TEACHER QUESTIONING BEHAVIOUR AND STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN MATHEMATICS CLASSES IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BOTSWANA
Keywords:
Teacher questioning behaviour, student participation, senior secondary school, Class participation, student involvementAbstract
Student participation remains a critical component of teaching in an attempt to improve student learning and achievement. With declining quality of student performance in National examinations at school level, consistent attempts to evaluate teachers’ behaviour in classrooms are imperative. This study examined the level of student participation in mathematics lessons at senior secondary school level. The investigation also included how teacher questioning behaviour influences student participation with emphasis on how teachers distributed the questions amongst the students and the level of difficulty of the verbal questions asked in mathematics classes. A random sample of 53 teachers of mathematics and 306 students from private and public senior secondary schools was used. Data were analysed using population t test on a single mean, independent t test and one way ANOVA. The results suggest that there is high level of student participation in mathematics lessons at senior secondary school level. Furthermore the study revealed that high level of question difficulty as perceived by students as well as fair and equitable distribution of questions tended to promote student participation.
References
I. Adeyinka, A.A. (2005). A study of the students’ attitudes toward mathematics and performance by Gender: A comparative analysis of private and public senior secondary schools in Botswana. Unpublished Master of Education Dissertation. Gaborone: University of Botswana.
II. Bandura, A. (1993). Perceived self – efficacy in cognitive development and functioning. Educational Psychologist, 28, 117 – 148.
III. Bandy, E. (2000). The responsive classroom. Intervention in School and Clinic, 35(43-45), 46 - 50.
IV. Bond, N. (2007). Questioning strategies that minimise classroom management problems. Retrieved on May 11, 2008, from http://www.eric.ed.gov/EricDocs.
V. Brophy, J., & Good, T. L. (1997). Looking in classrooms. New York: Longman.
VI. Cazden, C.B. (1988) Classroom discourse: The language of teaching and learning. Portsmouth: Heinemann Educational Books.
VII. Cotton, K. (1999). Teaching questioning skills: Franklin elementary school. Retrieved on October 9, 2000, from http:/www.nmrel. org/scpd/sirs/4/snap13.
VIII. Drzewiecki, L.A., & Westberg, K.L. (2007). Gender differences in high school students’ attitudes towards mathematics in traditional versus cooperative groups. Retrieved from http://www.giffed.uconn.edu/nrcgt/newsletter/spring975.htm.
IX. Dweck, C. S. (2000). Self theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
X. Foster, L.N., Krohn, K.R., McCleary, D.F., Aspiranti, K.B., Nalls, M.L., Quillivan, C.C., Taylor, C.M. & Williams, R.L. (2009). Increasing low-responding student’s participation in class discussion. Journal of Behavioural Education. 18, 173-188
XI. Fuller, B., & Snyder, C.W. Jr. (1991). Vocal teachers, Silent pupils? Life in Botswana classrooms. Retrieved on December 17, 2007, from http://www.jstor.org/view.
XII. Fuller, B., Hua, H., & Snyder, C. W. Jr. (1991) When girls learn more than boys: The influence of time in school and pedagogy in Botswana. Comparative Education Review, 38 (3), 347 – 376.
XIII. Gall, M.D. (1970). The use of questions in teaching. Retrieved on December 3, 2007, from http://www.jstor.org/cgi-bin/jstor.
XIV. Girgin, K.Z. & Stevens, D.D. (2005). Bridging in-class participation with innovative instruction: the use and implications in a Turkish University classroom. Innovations in education and teaching International. 42 (1), 93-106
XV. Gross, D.B. (2007). Increasing student participation. Retrieved on May 29, 2008,
XVI. from http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/increasing-student-participation.
XVII. Hanson , C.M. (2005). Increasing student participation in class: Town halls and post – it notes. Retrieved on August 13, 2008, from http://fdc.fullerton.edu/teaching/learning/increases.studparticip.htm.
XVIII. Jones, V., & Jones, L. (2004). In Bond, N. (2007). Questioning strategies that minimise classroom management problems. Retrieved on May 11, 2008, from http://www.eric.ed.gov/EricDocs.
XIX. McLeod, D. B. (1990) Information – processing theories and mathematics learning: The role of Affect. International Journal of Educational Research, 14 (1), 13-29.
XX. Mwetulundila, P. N. (2004). Why girls are not fully participating in science and mathematics in Namibia. Retrieved on December 12, 2007, from http://scholar.google.com.
XXI. Nenty, H,J., Adedoyin, O.O., Odili, J.N., & Major, T.E. (2007). Primary teacher’s perceptions of classroom assessment practices as means of providing quality primary/basic education by Botswana and Nigeria. Retrieved on March 14, 2009, from http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR
XXII. O'Connor, Kevin. (2013). Class participation: Promoting in-class student engagement. Education. 133, 98-102.
XXIII. Parker, T., Hoopes, O., & Eggett, D. (2011). The effect of Seat Location and Movement or permanence on Student-Initiated Participation. College Teaching.59, 79-84.
XXIV. Seals, C. (2010.). Mechanisms of student participation: Description of a Freiren Ideal. Educational Studies: A Journal of the American Educational Studies Association. 39(3), 283-295.
XXV. Seifert, T.L. (2004). Understanding student motivation. Educational Research, 46(2),
XXVI. 137 – 149.
XXVII. STAMP 2000+, (2000). Questioning techniques. Retrieved on December 12, 2007, from http://www.edsnet.na/Resources/TBCM/TBCM13/what questions to Ask.html.
XXVIII. Sutton, J.S., & Krueger, A. (2002). ED Thoughts: What we know about mathematics teaching and learning. Aurora, CO: Mid –continent Research for Education and Learning.
XXIX. Tabulawa, R. (2008). Are our classrooms really teacher – centred? Gaborone: The Botswana Gazette, p.14.
XXX. Taole, J. K., & Chakalisa, P. A. (1995). Implications of the national commission on education for mathematics education, Mosenodi, 3 (1-2), 15 -22.
XXXI. Tatum, H.E., Schwartz, B.M., Schimmoeller, P.A., & Perry, N. (2013). Classroom Participation and Student-Faculty interaction: Does Gender matter? The Journal of Higher Education, 84 (6), 745-768.
XXXII. Thijs, A., & Berg. V. (2002). Peer coaching as part of a professional development program for science teachers in Botswana. International Journal of Education Development, 22 (1), 55 – 68.
XXXIII. Turner, J.C., Cox, K.E., & Dicintio, M. (1998). Creating contexts for involvement in mathematics. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90. Retrieved December 14, 2007 from http://www.questia.com/google.scholar .qst
XXXIV. Weaver, R.R. & Qi, J. (2005). Classroom organization and participation: college student’s perceptions. The Journal of Higher Education. 76 (5), 570-601.
XXXV. Williams, P.A., Alley, R.D., & Henson, K.T. (1999). 12 Questioning strategies that minimize classroom management problems. Retrieved May 11, 2008, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/.
XXXVI. Wyatt, W.J. (2009). Class participation improves student performance. Behavior Analysis Digest International. 21 (3), 9.
XXXVII. Yuen, H. (2000). Beyond silence: The students’ thinking toward questioning in their mathematics lessons. Retrieved September 5, 2006, from http://math.ecnu.edu.cn/earcome3/sym2/Earcome3.
XXXVIII. Zaremba, S.B., & Dunn, D.S. (2004). Assessing class participation through self-evaluation: Method and measure. Teaching of Psychology. 31(3), 191-193.
XXXIX. Zares, C.R. (2007). Improving student achievement in mathematics through active learning. Retrieved March 29, 2008, from http://www.archives.math.utk.edu/ctm/FIFTH/zares/paper.pdf.
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 International Education and Research Journal (IERJ)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
