Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemFrom the general to the particular : connecting international classroom research to four classrooms in Brunei Darussalam( 2009)This doctoral research project set out to investigate whether large-scale international classroom studies have the capacity to connect with and offer insights into the classroom practices of individual teachers in Brunei Darussalam (hereafter, referred to as Brunei). In this study, the categorising scheme and results of the 1998-2000 Third International Mathematics and Science Video Study (TIMSS-99 Video Study) were used to examine the practices of four Grade 8 mathematics classrooms in Brunei. The practices documented in the four Brunei classrooms were then compared with the practices identified in the seven countries that participated in the TIMSS-99 Video Study. The comparative analyses were made possible by the application of the analytical codes of the TIMSS-99 Video Study to the Brunei video data. Adapting the Learner's Perspective Study (LPS) data collection methods (lesson sequences, interviews and an additional questionnaire) in combination with the analytical framework of the TIMSS-99 Video Study, generated a substantial body of detailed data about each of those four classrooms, sufficient to characterise the practices of those classrooms using the TIMSS-99 Video Study coding scheme and to support comparison with the TIMSS-99 Video Study findings. Connecting the generality of the TIMSS-99 Video Study findings to the specificity of the four classrooms studied in Brunei revealed both similarities and differences between the patterns of practice evident in the international and local data sets. In addition, the study addresses the question of how these similarities and differences might be used to inform classroom practice among the four Brunei teachers. Certain characteristics were common to the 20 Brunei lessons analysed: (i) The consistent shortness of the Brunei lessons (about 22 minutes), (ii) The consistent use by the Brunei teachers and their students of short spoken public utterances (typically less than five words); and, (iii) The relatively high "connectedness" of the Brunei mathematics lessons in comparison with those lessons analysed in the TIMSS-99 Video Study. One reading of my findings is that between-teacher variations problematise the usefulness of national typifications of practice. On the other hand, studies such as the TIMSS-99 Video Study can offer us salient dimensions of practice that alert us to characteristics of familiar classrooms that might otherwise go unnoticed.
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ItemTeaching negative number operations: a comparative study of the neutralisation model using integer tiles( 1998)The thesis describes an attempt to improve the teaching and learning of negative number concepts and operations. A teaching method based on the neutralisation model and using counters in the form of 'integer tiles' as the manipulative materials was developed and evaluated. The thesis begins with a review of the history and development of negative number. The influence that authors have exerted in embedding the use of the number line in signed number teaching practice was shown by examination of popular textbooks. Testing of classes across Years 8 to 11 revealed negative number skill deficiencies resulting from normal teaching methods. The major component of the research compared the integer tile method with normal teaching methods, in terms of learning outcomes, using a series of four tests of signed number operational skills and applications. Qualitative descriptions of student and teacher reactions and behaviour based on observation, interviews, conversations and examination of students' work by the researcher are also given. The experimental and control groups were shown to be well-matched on the pre-test. The experimental group performed significantly better on the post-test. The difference between the groups widened during the year following initial teaching. However no significant difference between the groups was found two years after the initial teaching. The evidence suggests that the integer tile method was more effective and for a wider range of student ability levels at the time of teaching than the normal method. Subsequently middle ability students in the control group were capable of catching up following application and practice in the use of negative numbers in later topics. However weaker students in both groups who did not fully master operational skills at the time of teaching continued to display skill deficiencies. The conclusion reached is that the integer tile teaching method could be a more effective initial negative number teaching method than normal methods based on the number line for most students. Further research is required to investigate the effectiveness of the integer tile method with weaker students.