Original Research

Rasch modelling of Mathematics and Science teachers’ preferences of real-life situations to be used in Mathematical Literacy

Cyril Julie, Lorna Holtman, Monde Mbekwa
Pythagoras | Vol 32, No 1 | a13 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/pythagoras.v32i1.13 | © 2011 Cyril Julie, Lorna Holtman, Monde Mbekwa | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 08 July 2011 | Published: 14 September 2011

About the author(s)

Cyril Julie, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Lorna Holtman, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Monde Mbekwa, University of the Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

In order to ascertain the real-life situations that teachers, as stakeholders, would find suitable and appropriate to deal with in Mathematical Literacy (a compulsory subject for students who are not doing Mathematics at the Further Education and Training level of the South African education system), we embarked on a study known as the Relevance of School Mathematics Education (ROSME). The principle underpinning this article is that there are times when it is necessary to assess the functionality and quality of questionnaires used to ascertain affective domain issues. The study provides an analysis technique which is not affected by the sample of individuals completing a questionnaire, provided that the instrument meets particular requirements. It thus improves the rigour of measurement. Various statistics obtained in this study showed that the instrument used to determine the real-life situations which teachers prefer for Mathematical Literacy reasonably identifies this variable. However, it is cautioned that much more care needs to be exercised in construction of such instruments. The results also indicated the real-life situations which teachers most and least preferred to be included in Mathematical Literacy, providing useful information for policy-makers and textbook authors on contextual situations to be included in learning materials.

Keywords

Context preference; Mathematical Literacy; real-life problems; questionnaires; Rasch model

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Crossref Citations

1. The Usefulness of the Rasch Model for the Refinement of Likert Scale Questionnaires
Liezel Retief, Marietjie Potgieter, Marietjie Lutz
African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education  vol: 17  issue: 1-2  first page: 126  year: 2013  
doi: 10.1080/10288457.2013.828407