Enhancing Quality Teaching And Learning Through Formal Assessment In Grade 6 Social Sciences

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate how Grade 6 Social Sciences teachers enhance quality teaching and learning through formal assessment in the Lejweleputswa area. This study was inspired by the theories of social constructivism and cognitive constructivism, specifically, Piaget’s cognitive constructivism and Vygotsky’s social constructivism. It explored the following question: How do Grade 6 Social Sciences teachers enhance quality teaching and learning through formal assessment? Concurrent triangulation research design was adopted in this research. The respondents to the questionnaire were chosen through simple random sampling whilst purposive sample was used to select interviewees. The sample consisted of 106 Grade 6 Social Sciences teachers who responded to the questionnaire and ten teachers who were interviewed. The results revealed that most teachers aligned assessment in Social Sciences with the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). Teachers understood and considered the importance of setting quality assessment tasks and apply Bloom’s taxonomy levels. However, the findings revealed that project question(s) modestly provide learners with opportunities to draw deductions and create universal trends, teachers modestly award marks for simplifying and drawing deductions, modestly grant marks for each ability tested in the project including presentation skills, and modestly award marks for conveying project ideas with suitable clarifications. The findings further revealed that teachers’ implementation of formal assessments did not differ according to their gender, age, teaching experience, professional teaching qualification, class size and school quintile. There was also no difference among Social Sciences teachers who teach at different school quintiles on the application of formal assessment. The study, therefore, recommends that teachers should use assessment to identify any academic problems experienced by the learners. Teachers who are deemed to be lacking pedagogical content knowledge should attend mandatory training seminars. The amount of mandated topic content and the time allocated to the Social Sciences subfields must be examined to address issues that arise from the rapid pace of the curriculum coverage. The Free State Department of Education must identify overcrowded schools and provide these schools with additional equipment, language, and teaching support material (LTSM), teachers, and extra classrooms for productive and meaningful learning. Teachers must update their Social Sciences pedagogics. They must work in collaboration and share assessment tasks. Subject advisors should conduct in-service training workshops to provide teachers with information and competences for setting sensible project tasks that will allow them to evaluate learners’ skills as set out in the CAPS.