Live your life. Create your destiny. Does classroom management Play a role in student progress? Ina Louw

Presentation layout Background and motivation Research question Sampling Data collection and analysis Results Concluding remarks Department Mathematics and Statistics

Background and motivation Institutional project Faculty of Science Identification of problems Defining “good” and “bad” Planning the project What is different? Department Mathematics and Statistics

Research question How does the (“perceived”) quality of teaching and learning; existing support systems; and infrastructure impact on student pass rate in specific subjects? Department Mathematics and Statistics

Sampling Stratified random sampling DoE benchmark of 69% Sampled 10 “poor” and 5 “good” subjects Adhered to all ethical priniples Department Mathematics and Statistics

Data collection and analysis Student Questionnaires Three dimensions Focused on classroom Lecturer Stress factors Suggested improvements Analysis Department Mathematics and Statistics

Results (1) Classroom issues: o Punctuality o Monitoring attendance o Noise o Size of group, venue o Lecturer o Timetable Department Mathematics and Statistics

Results (2) Textbooks vs keeping up & asking Reasons for not asking questions: Too shy – 18% No opportunity – 4% Figure out myself – 8.7% Not prepared in class – 8.7% Poor language skills – 6.3 Lecturer humiliates us – 2% Department Mathematics and Statistics

Results (3) Audibility of lecturer: 21% indicated they can not hear 55.2% says tempo and big words 44.8 says ambient noise In “poor” 59% couldn’t hear Department Mathematics and Statistics

Results (4) Class size was a significant factor, but not manageable by lecturer 97.6% are in large classes 55.6% said it impacts on their ability to understand. Department Mathematics and Statistics

Results (5) Sources of information (ranked): Lecturing as #1 – 96% Textbook as #2 – 45.32% (Lecturers agreed) Department Mathematics and Statistics

Results (6) Stress factors: Classroom – 46.72% Temperature, seating, noise Lecturing style, tempo, hearing % Duration and time of periods- 9.9% Department Mathematics and Statistics

Results (7) Attendance and feedback: “Role call” misunderstood Feedback policies differ Department Mathematics and Statistics

Concluding remarks Ambiguity is possible No big difference between “poor” and “good” (group size) Lecturer evaluation go some way No arguing of discipline, feedback and friendly approach What is different? Department Mathematics and Statistics

Concluding remarks (2) Final remark: Classroom management is a necessity, buy not the α or Ω Students are individuals: One size does NOT fit all!! Department Mathematics and Statistics