Bachelor of Education Honours in Mathematics Education

Purpose

The purpose of the Bachelor of Education Honours in Mathematics Education is to prepare learners to keep up with current trends in Mathematics Education to enhance teaching and learning towards a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education that meets the global as well as the country's demands for economic success. Qualifying learners will develop skills in research-based postgraduate studies in Mathematics Education. The purpose is to enhance research capacity through the research design that is required to provide a systematic research analysis of twenty-first-century Mathematics Education which will culminate in a research proposal and a research report. There will be engagement with Mathematics and mathematical literacy concepts, best practices of assessment strategies in mathematics as well as current issues of decolonisation and bringing forth the Fourth Industrial Revolution into Mathematics Education. The qualification seeks to instil progressive thinking in the field of Mathematics by developing teachers who can meet the diverse needs of learners in Mathematics and to teachers to further postgraduate studies by providing them with relevant competencies that are required for further research at higher levels. The exit-level outcomes are designed to provide modern, twenty-first century challenges that inspire research to transform Mathematics Education in the classroom and beyond. Upon completion of this qualification, qualifying learners will be able to:

• Apply research strategies to investigate modern-day issues in Mathematics Education.
• Analyse and apply relevant theories that synthesise contemporary issues in Mathematics Education.
• Engage critically on Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy content in teaching and learning.
• Design and analyse assessment trends in Mathematics Education that meet the demands of the twenty-first century learner.
• Recognise and critically engage with issues affecting Mathematics Education in South Africa.
• Research and apply the current digital trends recognisable in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) to meet the technological demands of globalisation in Mathematics Education.
• Develop and write an appropriate research proposal and report that emphasise the current issues in Mathematics Education.

Rationale

Mathematics education is essential to inculcate requirements for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education is an essential requirement for schools to meet the global needs of access. The qualification aims to make Mathematics Education relevant to current issues and challenges that face the South African Mathematics teacher. This qualification will provide teachers with content knowledge and pedagogical skills, which Wolcott, Scott, Norton, Whannell, Galligan, Marshman, Pfeiffer, and Wines (2017) believe will provide teachers with the competencies to create learning environments that facilitate classroom learner inquiry, activities and learning that coordinate Mathematics in the classroom to those which learners experience outside the classroom. As such the qualification will attempt to meet the needs of the modern-day teacher so that they have the skills to groom learners to meet the career demands in the mathematics field.

This qualification will introduce contemporary factors and issues that the twenty-first century teacher will encounter in Mathematics Education such as Decolonisation, Fourth Industrial Revolution, Africanisation, and Indigenisation as well as Globalisation. One of the seven roles that are prescribed for an educator in the Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications document (Department of Education, 2015) is continued professional development. That means that teachers should continue their education to meet the growing and diverse needs of learners. The digitisation that advances Mathematics Education toward meeting global transformations means that the teacher must keep in touch with such trends. This qualification is aimed at providing teachers with a platform to keep teaching and learning current, informative, and exciting.

The qualification provides a deep theoretical insight into teaching and learning in Mathematics Education, located within past theories and current theories through relevant literature that seeks to provide learners with a well-rounded knowledge base to identify potential areas of contemporary educational research into Mathematics. Through the online teaching and learning strategy, future researchers will become independent researchers that sustain their research throughout their careers. The goal of this qualification is to provide skills to the mathematics teacher to transform Mathematics to solve the country's economic challenges using modern technology. It is also about creating critical thinking opportunities in learners (future workforce) that meet the needs of the country through innovation, critical analytical review, and adaptations. This qualification has been approved by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).