France MachabaUniversity of South Africa | unisa · Department of Mathematics Education
France Machaba
Doctoral Degree (DEd)
Professor - Mathematics Education
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44
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108
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Citations since 2017
Publications
Publications (44)
First-year university students in developing countries frequently find themselves in an educational environment that is very different from secondary school, and their preparedness for university studies is becoming more diverse as the university students' population is growing. Numerous studies in mathematics education have concentrated on the fir...
This article explored how Grade 9 learners solve the concept of multiplication and division of fractions, misconceptions that arise and the root causes of these misconceptions, at a Soweto school in Gauteng. Eight learners were purposefully selected for an interview from the forty Grade 9 participants who were subjected to a written test. Learners'...
The digital revolution is the widespread diffusion of information and communication technologies and transformation into an entirely digitised society. The study aimed to investigate the extent of mathematics teachers’ readiness for online education in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and COVID-19 psychologically, sociologically, environmenta...
With the emergence of Covid-19 in South Africa in March 2020 and the subsequent lockdown restrictions, traditional universities looked to the University of South Africa for best practices regarding online teaching and learning. The Covid-19 lockdowns resulted in thousands of pre-service teachers in South African universities and colleges shifting a...
This article presents an instructional technology-based cycle model intended to support and facilitate the teaching and learning of mathematics, particularly calculus. The study used quantitative methods with quasi-experimental research that uses non-randomised assignments of the study group that are categorised into experimental and control groups...
This paper focuses on Grade 9 learners' understanding of the concepts of addition and subtraction of fractions at a township school in Soweto, Gauteng. A total of 40 learners participated in this study where they were subjected to a test on addition and subtraction of fractions before eight were purposefully selected for interviews based on their r...
Within the mathematics education community, the relative advantages and disadvantages of integrating the everyday reality into mathematics remains an unanswered issue. The study investigated learners' encounter with mathematics about the world in the context of the face scenario. Thirty Grade 8 learners from a middle school located in a township we...
Learners in the 21st century need technological support in the learning process because of the advancements made in technology for teaching and learning. A GeoGebra-oriented classroom uses one of these technologies that can be implemented in the classroom. The new developed cycle model implemented in the study and explored the effect of using GeoGe...
This paper reports on the findings of an exploratory case study into teachers' instructional strategies for teaching quadratic functions. The significance of our research is to explicitly indicate how mathematics teachers in the Mogalakwena district use multiple representations and investigative and questioning approach to facilitate learners' lear...
![The base of the cycle model adapted from Bedada [19].](profile/Tola-Bedada/publication/362631587/figure/fig1/AS:11431281085499840@1663779771289/The-base-of-the-cycle-model-adapted-from-Bedada-19_Q320.jpg)
The study aimed to investigate the effect of GeoGebra on students' ability to learn calculus. Calculus can be a challenging subject to teach. Moreover, students have problems, especially in connecting the concepts of calculus with the real world. Concerning gender, the study looked at the impact of utilizing GeoGebra Mathematical software on studen...
The objective of this special issue is to bring together new research on the teaching and learning of mathematics education using the 4IR tools during the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to the complex nature of teaching and learning in higher education, it is essential to employ research methods that brings together different techniques and procedures.
The study aimed to investigate Ethiopian university lecturers' readiness to use technology for teaching mathematics at the tertiary level during the COVID-19 pandemic when they were compelled to adapt to distant education. Using Google Forms, online questionnaires were distributed to 41 lecturers in three Ethiopian universities, of whom eighteen pa...
This study explores the effectiveness of the GeoGebra on Grade 12 students' success in making associations between the representations of trigonometric functions and the interpretation of graphs. A technology-oriented classroom is a commanding and accommodating tool in mathematics instruction in understanding mathematical concepts. A non-equivalent...
The study aimed to investigate Ethiopian university lecturers’ readiness to use technology for teaching mathematics at the tertiary level during the COVID-19 pandemic when they were compelled to adapt to distant education. Using Google Forms, online questionnaires were distributed to 41 lecturers in three Ethiopian universities, of whom eighteen pa...
Teaching and learning constitute a socially guided event positioning a teacher and students as premier educational participants. Within this conceptualization, an effective teaching of classroom mathematics could be perceived as an instructional interplay between participants’ social placings and cultural consciousness. This interplay should recogn...
This study attempted to extend the debate on the use of real-life contexts to make mathematics more meaningful and real in the context of literacy and reading in mathematics. The participants of this study were 30 Grade 8 learners in a middle junior secondary school in a township. The participants were purposefully sampled. The data were collected...
The purpose of the study was to explore teachers' knowledge of learner understanding for teaching quadratic function in Grade 10 mathematics classrooms in Mogalakwena district, Limpopo. We employed a qualitative case study research design to explore the teaching of three purposefully selected teachers. The exploration focused on how teachers' knowl...
Our research with Grade 9 learners at a school in Soweto was conducted to explore learners’ understanding of fundamental fraction concepts used in applications required at that level of schooling. The study was based on the theory of constructivism in a bid to understand whether learners’ transition from whole numbers to rational numbers enabled th...
This study explored how cooperative learning could be used in the teaching and learning of Linear Programming (LP) for NCV multilingual FET students. A qualitative case study was used in an FET college where students and their lecturers learn mathematics in a language that is not their first, main or home language. The data analysed showed that stu...
This chapter investigates the school management teams' views on managing curriculum delivery and assessment in primary schools at Germiston, Ekurhuleni South District in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The following research questions premise the study: What are SMTs' views on managing curriculum delivery and assessment strategies at primary school...
This article presents balanced views of Mathematical Literacy (ML) and Mathematics (M), from both an analytical perspective and the subjective perspectives of teachers and learners. From the analytical perspective, policy documents and the literature spanning the period from the inception of ML to date are reviewed. Glimpses into the subjective vie...
This study explored Grade 11 Mathematics learners' conceptual and procedural knowledge in solving algebraic equations using cooperative learning. This qualitative case study was carried out in a classroom setting in which 34 Grade 11 Mathematics learners participated. The data was collected using a round-table discussion and reflective interviews....
The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of the Annual National Assessment (ANA) Grade 6 Mathematics assessment instrument, administered in the year 2012 guided by the main question: to what extent does the 2012 Grade 6 Mathematics assessment instrument provide meaningful and consistent information for making appropriate interpretations...
The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of the Annual National Assessment (ANA) Grade 6 Mathematics assessment instrument, administered in the year 2012 guided by the main question: to what extent does the 2012 Grade 6 Mathematics assessment instrument provide meaningful and consistent information for making appropriate interpretations...
This article gives an account of Grade 9 learners' understanding of the concept of the equal sign and how they move from an arithmetic to an algebraic equation. A case study, using a sequential mixed method research design, was conducted in a secondary school in Soshanguve, a township in Gauteng, South Africa. Out of the 49 learners who wrote a tes...
The purpose of this article is to examine teachers' and facilitators' (subject advisors) views of the approaches to teaching mathematics and mathematical literacy (ML). Using Bernstein's (1996) constructs of recognition and realisation rules, I analysed data from interviews conducted with mathematics and ML teachers and facilitators. The analysis s...
This article emerged from an analysis of learners’ responses to a task presented
to learners studying Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy (ML) in Gauteng,
South Africa. Officially, Mathematics and ML are two separate learning areas.
Learners from Grade 10 onwards are supposed to take either one or the other,
but not both. This means that by Grade...
The differences and similarities between the learning areas Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy have been debated. Nine years after the introduction of Mathematical Literacy in South Africa, this debate is still raging. This paper reports on an analysis of teachers’ views on mathematics (M) and Mathematical Literacy (ML) tasks, in some selected s...
ABSTRACT - This paper reports on 49 Grade 9 learners’ understanding and interpretation of the concept of the equal sign and how they transit from arithmetic to an algebraic equation. A case study using a sequential mixed method research design was conducted in a secondary school in Soshanguve, a township in Gauteng, South Africa. Out of the 49 lear...
ABSTRACT-This study involved Grades 8 and 9 in the Eastern Cape Province in the Mt Ayliff District. This paper reports on 90 learners’ understanding and interpretation of the concept of an algebraic expression. The study followed a qualitative approach adopting a case study design involving one secondary school. Out of 90 learners who wrote a test...
ABSTRACT - This paper emerges from an analysis of 207 learners’ responses to a mathematical literacy task (Task 4) presented to learners studying mathematics and mathematical literacy in South Africa. Officially, mathematics and mathematical literacy are two separate learning areas. Learners from Grade 10 onwards are supposed to take either one or...
ABSTRACT– Algebra systematizes the construction and analysis of formulas, equations, algebraic expressions, and functions that make an important part of mathematics and its applications. This paper explores the conceptual difficulties and understandings of algebraic expressions and related concepts that a sample of grade 8 learners have, through AP...
This article focuses on learners’ understanding and their descriptions of the concepts of area
and perimeter, how learners solve problems involving area and perimeter and the relationship
between them and misconceptions, and the causes of these misconceptions as revealed by
learners when solving these problems. A written test was administered to 30...
The purpose of this article was to examine tensions associated with
the implementation of Mathematical Literacy alongside Mathematics.
This paper emerges from an analysis of four Mathematics (M)
and Mathematical Literacy (ML) facilitators’ views on implementation of
Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy curricula. Bernstein’s (1996)
constructs of R...
A Jump from results to inferences about schooling: Analysis of Grade 6 Mathematics ANA Test
Charlotte Modzuka; France Machaba; Caroline Long and Sarah Howie
Department of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, University of Pretoria, and Department of Mathematics Education, University of South Africa.
dzukis.c@gmail.com; emachamf@unisa.ac.z...
Literacy, reading and experiences in mathematics: A discussion on mathematical discourses
France Machaba 1; Liveness Phiri2; Williams Ndlovu3 & Willy Mwakapenda4
1University of South Africa; 2,3,4 Tshwane University of Technology emachamf@unisa.ac.za ; livmwale@yahoo.com ; NdlovuWC@tut.ac.za ; mwakapendawwj@tut.ac.za
In this symposium we claim that...
LEARNING MATHEMATICS THROUGH INTEGRATION WITH CONTEXTS THAT DRAW ON LEARNERS’ EVERYDAY EXPERIENCES BOTH IN MATHEMATICS AND MATHEMATICAL LITERACY CLASSES: A PILOT STUDY Frans Machaba Refithlile-Pele Primary School machabaf@webmail.co.za In this paper I draw on a pilot study to describe and explain the learning of mathematics through integration with...
Projects
Projects (6)
To elaborate Activity theory with other theories in case of integration of technology in Mathematics
The focus in this research considers two cases: (1) teachers who are teaching both Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy; (2) Teachers who are teaching Mathematics and another subject such as Physical Science or Life Science. The focus in this research considers two cases: (1) teachers who are teaching both Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy; (2) Teachers who are teaching Mathematics and another subject such as Physical Science or Life Science. The research attempts to examine behaviours of a teacher when he/she is teaching the different subjects:
a) In what way does a teacher behave the same way when teaching Mathematics and when teaching Mathematical Literacy? In what way does he/she teach differently?
b) In what way does a teacher behave the same way when teaching Mathematics and when teaching a non-Mathematical subject (e.g. Physical Science)? In what way does he/she teach differently?
c) How can the similarities and differences in the way the teacher teaches be explained?
