Pragashni Padayachee | University of Cape Town (original) (raw)
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Papers by Pragashni Padayachee
2022 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)
Student success in Mathematics is a global priority. Mathematics is a fundamental part of enginee... more Student success in Mathematics is a global priority. Mathematics is a fundamental part of engineering programs in higher education, necessary for application in further engineering studies and yet often becomes a stumbling block for engineering students. Concerningly, even successful students frequently exhibit weak understanding of key mathematical concepts. The vector calculus course is known to be particularly challenging for students. While much research has been done into students’ constructions of core concepts at school level, less has been done on advanced mathematical topics such as vector calculus, yet this important insight has the potential to impact curriculum and pedagogy and to inform relevant support. This research conducted at the University of Twente, the Netherlands and the University of Cape Town, South Africa will use the constructivist APOS (Action-Process-Object-Schema) Theory to explore how students mentally construct concepts such as partial derivatives, dir...
South African Journal of Higher Education, 2018
The strong performance of writers on the national school exit examinations mean that the access t... more The strong performance of writers on the national school exit examinations mean that the access to higher education has never been more open than it is at present. The large groups of students that now occupy our lecture halls undoubtedly present teaching, learning and assessment challenges unfamiliar to the lecturing corps. Higher education will have to rethink how we engage in this arena to ensure students are successful. Appropriate online assessment may address some of the challenges faced in the teaching and learning setting. This article describes, the experiences of 392 mathematics students, undertaking their assessments via Moodle at a University in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Student experiences informed the design of a supportive environmental framework for online assessment. The theoretical lens for this research study is framed by mastery learning, student experience and online assessment. The research reported on in this article highlights one aspect of the project: the third phase of the action research cycle, namely, the observation the implementation of online assessment. Examples from two blended learning Moodle courses highlight some of the experienced difficulties and successes. The lessons learnt informed the online assessment design and implementation of supportive environments for online assessment. The knowledge gained from this study culminated in a 4 Pillar Supportive Online Assessment Framework for Padayachee, Wagner-Welsh and Johannes Online assessment in Moodle: A framework for supporting our students 212 Blended Learning environments, which could contribute to an improvement in online assessment practices. This research article concludes with a description of the supportive environmental framework for online assessment as well as possible implications for higher education.
Post-apartheid South Africa is witnessing an education crisis of significant proportions. The new... more Post-apartheid South Africa is witnessing an education crisis of significant proportions. The new outcomes-based education system has failed to deliver and universities are suffering the consequences of under-preparation of learners for tertiary studies especially in mathematics. The educator corps is lacking and it has become common practice for universities to deploy augmented programmes in mathematics for secondary school learners in the surrounding areas. This thesis describes a particular approach of blended learning, devised for the Incubator School Project (ISP), an initiative of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The defining feature of this blended approach is that it incorporates DVD technology, which offers an affordable and accessible option for the particular group of learners and the schools they attend. The thesis poses the research question: How did the use of the DVD approach within a blended learning environment s...
Science Journal of Education, 2014
The need to explore the different approaches in teaching and learning of mathematics is urgent du... more The need to explore the different approaches in teaching and learning of mathematics is urgent due to the ever worsening crisis in mathematics education in South Africa. Many interventions in South Africa are designed to address this crisis.. This paper highlights one such an intervention, using DVD technology within a blended approach. The outcome of this research has the possibility of contributing to the upliftment of the overall standard of mathematics in South Africa but especially in the Eastern Cape. This study describes a particular model of blended learning, devised for the Incubator School Project (ISP), an initiative of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The defining feature of this blended model is that it incorporates DVD technology, which offers an affordable and accessible option for the particular group of learners. DVD technology was used as an ingredient in this blended learning approach since it is easily availab...
As a result of a worldwide pandemic, academics were guided to take their courses online. Making t... more As a result of a worldwide pandemic, academics were guided to take their courses online. Making the Vector Calculus course fully online whilst limited to low tech options, all students can access, the aim was to create an engaging and inclusive environment for students to learn mathematics. Acknowledging the important role that mathematics plays in engineering there was an imperative for the online engineering mathematics provision to include in addition to basic knowledge the fostering of skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration and communication, all arguably important for the development and expertise of future engineers.Discussion forums have long been used in education enabling students to easily and asynchronously access and respond to what their peers, tutors and lecturers have posted and in so doing creating an interactive online classroom. Although much is written about the use of online discussion forums in higher education, few studies refer to its...
There is a global concern for retention and success of students in higher education engineering p... more There is a global concern for retention and success of students in higher education engineering programmes, in particular for students from under-represented communities. Low success in engineering programmes can be partly attributed to students failing mathematics or being unable to articulate mathematics in other engineering courses. This research explores how understanding the academic preparedness of engineering students in relation to their performance in university mathematics can direct curriculum changes to improve student success, driven by the research question: “How can the analysis of student data contribute to understanding student performance in calculus?” Data from engineering students in an extended curriculum programme at the University of Cape Town (UCT) were analysed to generate profiles from variables including gender, home language and performance in university admissions tests. Profiles were related to performance in three consecutive engineering mathematics co...
We are four academics teaching mathematics at three different higher education institutions over ... more We are four academics teaching mathematics at three different higher education institutions over two continents. Through fortnightly meetings to research how our practices changed as a result of the Covid-19 lockdowns, we formed a community of practice. The process of articulating our experiences and ideas, and reflecting on the recorded meetings and the written homework we set ourselves, was reassuring and motivational. We identified five assessment propositions to guide our mathematics teaching, which we summarize in this paper. A major proposition of assessment we embraced was the use of open book (or open-internet) assessment as a way to test for mathematical understanding. Our community of practice interactions influenced our teaching and assessment practices. We learnt more deeply about assessment by interrogating each other’s work, observing and identifying misconceptions or errors (made by ourselves and others), and learning different ways of solving problems through discuss...
International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology
... Fifthly six schools are used as a case study where the mathematics performance of the learner... more ... Fifthly six schools are used as a case study where the mathematics performance of the learners who participated in the ISP is compared to those who did not participate in the ISP. ... 234 APPENDIX G: INTERVIEW GUIDE 242 ... Terms significant to this research study are defined. ...
Models for Implementation, 2011
Post-apartheid South Africa is witnessing an education crisis of significant proportions. The new... more Post-apartheid South Africa is witnessing an education crisis of significant proportions. The new outcomesbased education system has failed to deliver, and universities are suffering the consequences of underpreparation of learners for tertiary studies. The educator corps is lacking, and it has become common practice for universities to deploy augmented programmes in mathematics for secondary school learners in the surrounding area. This chapter describes a particular model of blended learning, devised for the Incubator School Project (ISP), an initiative of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The defining feature of this blended model is that it incorporates DVD technology, which offers an affordable and accessible option for the particular group of learners. DVD technology was used as an ingredient in this blended learning approach since it is easily available to the majority of learners and to the schools they attend. This chapter describes the particular blended model and reports both qualitatively and quantitatively on its success: qualitatively, based firstly on a questionnaire completed by learners and secondly on interviews of educators; quantitatively, based thirdly on learner performance before and after the intervention and fourthly on a single school case study where the mathematics performance of the learners who participated in the ISP is compared to those who did not participate in the ISP. Finally, the scope of blending of this model is evaluated by means of a radar chart, adapted from an existing radar measure. The findings of the study suggest that the use of DVD technology in the blended learning approach impacted favourably on the mathematics learning and enhanced the mathematics performance of these learners.
International Research in Education, 2014
Pythagoras, 2011
This article describes the experiences and mathematics performance of Grade 12 learners selected ... more This article describes the experiences and mathematics performance of Grade 12 learners selected to participate in a mathematics intervention project using digital video disk (DVD) technology within a blended learning context. Blended learning in the context of this study is defined as employing a variety of appropriate methods of delivery to enhance the teaching and learning process. DVD technology was used as an ingredient in this blended learning approach, since it is easily available and accessible to the majority of learners and the schools they attend. The study reported on here forms part of a larger study using action research methodology. This article reports on a single stage of the action research: implementing a change to improve the situation and observing the consequences of this action. Mathematics Incubator School Project (ISP) learners completed questionnaires with open-ended questions which pertained to their experiences of the blended learning approach. The observ...
Proceedings of the 48th SEFI Annual Conference, 2020
The economic demand for engineering graduates in South Africa coupled with low throughput in engi... more The economic demand for engineering graduates in South Africa coupled with low
throughput in engineering degree programs have highlighted mathematics
proficiency as a challenge. As engineering classes become more diverse, uneven
mathematics preparation compounds the challenges facing engineering educators.
During an engineering module, lecturers and students may come to realise that there
is a mismatch between the expected and current mathematical proficiencies needed
to engage with the disciplinary content. However, developing the required
mathematical proficiencies within disciplines in addition to a full workload may
overload students, and lead to failure. Starting with an understanding of the
mathematical background of a cohort of students and sharing mathematical
proficiency data with engineering lecturers soon after registration can help with
planning interventions to develop specific skills needed for students to succeed in
particular courses.
This quantitative research profiles the mathematical proficiencies of engineering
students at a South African university and poses the questions: Based on pre-university assessments and final grades for a series of three semester-courses in
calculus, what mathematical proficiency profiles can be identified? Are the profiles
different for other demographic factors? We present an analysis of engineering
students at a South African university that includes variables such as gender and
grades for three university calculus courses, final school mathematics examinations,
and National Benchmark Tests and their mathematics subdomain analysis. We
suggest directions for further qualitative research to support the design of suitable
interventions for diverse engineering classes.
2022 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)
Student success in Mathematics is a global priority. Mathematics is a fundamental part of enginee... more Student success in Mathematics is a global priority. Mathematics is a fundamental part of engineering programs in higher education, necessary for application in further engineering studies and yet often becomes a stumbling block for engineering students. Concerningly, even successful students frequently exhibit weak understanding of key mathematical concepts. The vector calculus course is known to be particularly challenging for students. While much research has been done into students’ constructions of core concepts at school level, less has been done on advanced mathematical topics such as vector calculus, yet this important insight has the potential to impact curriculum and pedagogy and to inform relevant support. This research conducted at the University of Twente, the Netherlands and the University of Cape Town, South Africa will use the constructivist APOS (Action-Process-Object-Schema) Theory to explore how students mentally construct concepts such as partial derivatives, dir...
South African Journal of Higher Education, 2018
The strong performance of writers on the national school exit examinations mean that the access t... more The strong performance of writers on the national school exit examinations mean that the access to higher education has never been more open than it is at present. The large groups of students that now occupy our lecture halls undoubtedly present teaching, learning and assessment challenges unfamiliar to the lecturing corps. Higher education will have to rethink how we engage in this arena to ensure students are successful. Appropriate online assessment may address some of the challenges faced in the teaching and learning setting. This article describes, the experiences of 392 mathematics students, undertaking their assessments via Moodle at a University in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Student experiences informed the design of a supportive environmental framework for online assessment. The theoretical lens for this research study is framed by mastery learning, student experience and online assessment. The research reported on in this article highlights one aspect of the project: the third phase of the action research cycle, namely, the observation the implementation of online assessment. Examples from two blended learning Moodle courses highlight some of the experienced difficulties and successes. The lessons learnt informed the online assessment design and implementation of supportive environments for online assessment. The knowledge gained from this study culminated in a 4 Pillar Supportive Online Assessment Framework for Padayachee, Wagner-Welsh and Johannes Online assessment in Moodle: A framework for supporting our students 212 Blended Learning environments, which could contribute to an improvement in online assessment practices. This research article concludes with a description of the supportive environmental framework for online assessment as well as possible implications for higher education.
Post-apartheid South Africa is witnessing an education crisis of significant proportions. The new... more Post-apartheid South Africa is witnessing an education crisis of significant proportions. The new outcomes-based education system has failed to deliver and universities are suffering the consequences of under-preparation of learners for tertiary studies especially in mathematics. The educator corps is lacking and it has become common practice for universities to deploy augmented programmes in mathematics for secondary school learners in the surrounding areas. This thesis describes a particular approach of blended learning, devised for the Incubator School Project (ISP), an initiative of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The defining feature of this blended approach is that it incorporates DVD technology, which offers an affordable and accessible option for the particular group of learners and the schools they attend. The thesis poses the research question: How did the use of the DVD approach within a blended learning environment s...
Science Journal of Education, 2014
The need to explore the different approaches in teaching and learning of mathematics is urgent du... more The need to explore the different approaches in teaching and learning of mathematics is urgent due to the ever worsening crisis in mathematics education in South Africa. Many interventions in South Africa are designed to address this crisis.. This paper highlights one such an intervention, using DVD technology within a blended approach. The outcome of this research has the possibility of contributing to the upliftment of the overall standard of mathematics in South Africa but especially in the Eastern Cape. This study describes a particular model of blended learning, devised for the Incubator School Project (ISP), an initiative of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The defining feature of this blended model is that it incorporates DVD technology, which offers an affordable and accessible option for the particular group of learners. DVD technology was used as an ingredient in this blended learning approach since it is easily availab...
As a result of a worldwide pandemic, academics were guided to take their courses online. Making t... more As a result of a worldwide pandemic, academics were guided to take their courses online. Making the Vector Calculus course fully online whilst limited to low tech options, all students can access, the aim was to create an engaging and inclusive environment for students to learn mathematics. Acknowledging the important role that mathematics plays in engineering there was an imperative for the online engineering mathematics provision to include in addition to basic knowledge the fostering of skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration and communication, all arguably important for the development and expertise of future engineers.Discussion forums have long been used in education enabling students to easily and asynchronously access and respond to what their peers, tutors and lecturers have posted and in so doing creating an interactive online classroom. Although much is written about the use of online discussion forums in higher education, few studies refer to its...
There is a global concern for retention and success of students in higher education engineering p... more There is a global concern for retention and success of students in higher education engineering programmes, in particular for students from under-represented communities. Low success in engineering programmes can be partly attributed to students failing mathematics or being unable to articulate mathematics in other engineering courses. This research explores how understanding the academic preparedness of engineering students in relation to their performance in university mathematics can direct curriculum changes to improve student success, driven by the research question: “How can the analysis of student data contribute to understanding student performance in calculus?” Data from engineering students in an extended curriculum programme at the University of Cape Town (UCT) were analysed to generate profiles from variables including gender, home language and performance in university admissions tests. Profiles were related to performance in three consecutive engineering mathematics co...
We are four academics teaching mathematics at three different higher education institutions over ... more We are four academics teaching mathematics at three different higher education institutions over two continents. Through fortnightly meetings to research how our practices changed as a result of the Covid-19 lockdowns, we formed a community of practice. The process of articulating our experiences and ideas, and reflecting on the recorded meetings and the written homework we set ourselves, was reassuring and motivational. We identified five assessment propositions to guide our mathematics teaching, which we summarize in this paper. A major proposition of assessment we embraced was the use of open book (or open-internet) assessment as a way to test for mathematical understanding. Our community of practice interactions influenced our teaching and assessment practices. We learnt more deeply about assessment by interrogating each other’s work, observing and identifying misconceptions or errors (made by ourselves and others), and learning different ways of solving problems through discuss...
International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology
... Fifthly six schools are used as a case study where the mathematics performance of the learner... more ... Fifthly six schools are used as a case study where the mathematics performance of the learners who participated in the ISP is compared to those who did not participate in the ISP. ... 234 APPENDIX G: INTERVIEW GUIDE 242 ... Terms significant to this research study are defined. ...
Models for Implementation, 2011
Post-apartheid South Africa is witnessing an education crisis of significant proportions. The new... more Post-apartheid South Africa is witnessing an education crisis of significant proportions. The new outcomesbased education system has failed to deliver, and universities are suffering the consequences of underpreparation of learners for tertiary studies. The educator corps is lacking, and it has become common practice for universities to deploy augmented programmes in mathematics for secondary school learners in the surrounding area. This chapter describes a particular model of blended learning, devised for the Incubator School Project (ISP), an initiative of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The defining feature of this blended model is that it incorporates DVD technology, which offers an affordable and accessible option for the particular group of learners. DVD technology was used as an ingredient in this blended learning approach since it is easily available to the majority of learners and to the schools they attend. This chapter describes the particular blended model and reports both qualitatively and quantitatively on its success: qualitatively, based firstly on a questionnaire completed by learners and secondly on interviews of educators; quantitatively, based thirdly on learner performance before and after the intervention and fourthly on a single school case study where the mathematics performance of the learners who participated in the ISP is compared to those who did not participate in the ISP. Finally, the scope of blending of this model is evaluated by means of a radar chart, adapted from an existing radar measure. The findings of the study suggest that the use of DVD technology in the blended learning approach impacted favourably on the mathematics learning and enhanced the mathematics performance of these learners.
International Research in Education, 2014
Pythagoras, 2011
This article describes the experiences and mathematics performance of Grade 12 learners selected ... more This article describes the experiences and mathematics performance of Grade 12 learners selected to participate in a mathematics intervention project using digital video disk (DVD) technology within a blended learning context. Blended learning in the context of this study is defined as employing a variety of appropriate methods of delivery to enhance the teaching and learning process. DVD technology was used as an ingredient in this blended learning approach, since it is easily available and accessible to the majority of learners and the schools they attend. The study reported on here forms part of a larger study using action research methodology. This article reports on a single stage of the action research: implementing a change to improve the situation and observing the consequences of this action. Mathematics Incubator School Project (ISP) learners completed questionnaires with open-ended questions which pertained to their experiences of the blended learning approach. The observ...
Proceedings of the 48th SEFI Annual Conference, 2020
The economic demand for engineering graduates in South Africa coupled with low throughput in engi... more The economic demand for engineering graduates in South Africa coupled with low
throughput in engineering degree programs have highlighted mathematics
proficiency as a challenge. As engineering classes become more diverse, uneven
mathematics preparation compounds the challenges facing engineering educators.
During an engineering module, lecturers and students may come to realise that there
is a mismatch between the expected and current mathematical proficiencies needed
to engage with the disciplinary content. However, developing the required
mathematical proficiencies within disciplines in addition to a full workload may
overload students, and lead to failure. Starting with an understanding of the
mathematical background of a cohort of students and sharing mathematical
proficiency data with engineering lecturers soon after registration can help with
planning interventions to develop specific skills needed for students to succeed in
particular courses.
This quantitative research profiles the mathematical proficiencies of engineering
students at a South African university and poses the questions: Based on pre-university assessments and final grades for a series of three semester-courses in
calculus, what mathematical proficiency profiles can be identified? Are the profiles
different for other demographic factors? We present an analysis of engineering
students at a South African university that includes variables such as gender and
grades for three university calculus courses, final school mathematics examinations,
and National Benchmark Tests and their mathematics subdomain analysis. We
suggest directions for further qualitative research to support the design of suitable
interventions for diverse engineering classes.