Provisional Title: An action research study of how a visualisation approach to teaching used in an intervention programme can address issues of mathematics anxiety

Research Goal and Question(s) The goal is to study how a visualisation approach to teaching used in an intervention programme can address issues of mathematics anxiety. Questions What are the type(s) and levels of anxiety do teachers of Grades 9 -10 have when teaching the content that is meant for the additional mathematics syllabus? Does the use of GeoGebra as a visualisation tool enhance conceptual understanding and productive disposition to ease mathematics anxiety?

Background and Context The Junior Secondary Phase mathematics syllabus(Grades 8 – 10) is divided into Mathematics and Additional Mathematics (Namibia. Ministry of Education, 2010). Additional Mathematics is taught from Grade 9 to 10. Most of the schools in the Kavango East Region had not implemented the said content/syllabus, especially for Geometry and Algebra. The revised Junior Secondary Phase Syllabus (grades 8 – 9) (2016) still includes some of the objectives previously meant for additional mathematics in Grade 9 (2010). Therefore in my opinion, the content meant for additional mathematics causes anxiety.

Background and context continue… I believe that if teachers have effective strategies to teach for proficiency (Kilpatrick, Swafford & Findell, 2001), they will teach the content meant for the additional mathematics syllabus. The teaching of mathematics requires new strategies, such as the use of ICT. ICT can help teachers to visualise how concepts are connected and represented, for example, in geometry. A Namibian GeoGebra Initiative Programme (NGIP) will be introduced.

Concepts & Theoretical Framework The key concepts of the study are: Visualisation: Teaching visuality Visual representations Visualisers & non-visualisers (Presmeg, 1986) Mathematical Proficiency (Kilpatrick et al., 2001) Conceptual understanding & Productive Disposition (Confidence, motivation, etc) Mathematics Anxiety: general anxiety & teaching anxiety (Bandura, 1986; Hembree, 1990; Aschraft, 2002, etc) ICT-Tool (GeoGebra) Teacher Professional development : Pedagogy content knowledge (Shulman, 1986)

Theory The proposed study will be informed by the theory of Community of Practice (CoP) (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998; Wenger, McDermott & Snyder, 2002). The theory refers to “groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis”. The three modes of belonging to a CoP are: Engagement-doing things together, talking, and producing artifacts Imagination-constructing image of ourselves, of our communities, and of the world Alignment- to ensure that the local activities are aligned in order to fit in within the broader structures and contribute to the broader enterprise.

Research Design An interpretive paradigm Mixed methods: Quantitative & Qualitative (Creswell, 2003) The study will be conducted in the Kavango East Region The researcher and two teachers will attend a training on GeoGebra Pre-Survey: Questionnaire (Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale: for Grades: 9 -10 teachers)(Hembree, 1990; Ashcraft, 2002) Participants (about 10) will be selected as per their anxiety rating scores. The intervention programme will last for the whole of 2018 Method: Action Research (a number of applets will be developed): Plan Act(Implement) Observe Reflect (Zuber-Skerrit, 1992) Lesson observations :Teachers’ use of GeoGebra as visualisation tool to solve problems in Geometry and Algebra (Presmeg, 1986 pp. 42 – 43; Kashefi, Alias, Kahar, Buhari & Othman, 2015 p.579 ). Interviews (teachers’ mathematics anxiety & teaching visuality) Post- survey: to compare with the initial findings