This file contains coding notes for the articles that are included in the literature review. Each heading below is linked to the pdf file of each article in the review by org-noter. The Bibtex citation for the article is used as heading.
| No. | Citation | Inclusion | Country | Genre | Causal | Sample | Instrument | Level | Teachers | Problem | Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | cite:&alex2019 | 1 | RSA | oth | sta | md2(40) | content test | all | fut | What teachers know? | Lack of knowledge |
| 2 | cite:&bansilal2014 | 1 | RSA | oth | sta | lrg(253) | content test | sec | prc | What teachers know? | Lack of knowledge |
| 3 | cite:&bowie2019 | 1 | RSA | oth | sta | lrg(770) | content test | prm | fut | What teachers know? | Lack of knowledge |
| 4 | cite:&chigonga2019 | nMKT | |||||||||
| 5 | cite:&chikiwa2019 | 1 | RSA | nat | qal | sma(1) | none | prm | exp | What relationships? | KCT is foundational |
| 6 | cite:&defreitas2019 | 1 | RSA | nat | sta | lrg(93) | TPACK | mid | prc | What relationships? | Attending to aspects of knowledge important |
| 7 | cite:&dhurumraj2020 | nMKT | |||||||||
| 8 | cite:&feza2016 | 1 | RSA | oth | qal | md1(17) | scenario based questionnaire | prm | prc | What teachers know? | Lack of knowledge |
| 9 | cite:&feza2018 | 1 | RSA | dev | qal | md1(14) | COEMET | prm | prc | What PD? | Lack of knowledge (leads to poor teaching) |
| 10 | cite:&fonseca2015 | 1 | RSA | dev | sta | lrg(108) | content test | mid | fut | What PD? | Lack of knowledge |
| 11 | cite:&fonseca2021 | 1 | RSA | dev | qal | md2(62) | self-report | prm | fut | What TE? | Attending to aspects of knowledge important |
| 12 | cite:&helmbold2021 | 1 | RSA | dev | qal | sma(6) | none | prm | prc | What PD? | LS influenced knowledge |
| 13 | cite:&jacinto2020 | 1 | MAW | oth | qal | sma(6) | survey and interview | prm | fut | What teachers know? | PSTs emphasise particular knowledge |
| 14 | cite:&jita2019 | 1 | RSA | dev | qal | lrg(125) | portfolio | all | prc | What PD? | LS influenced knowledge |
| 15 | cite:&joubert2020 | nMKT | |||||||||
| 16 | cite:&kalobo2016 | 1 | RSA | oth | sta | md2(66) | survey | sec | prc | What teachers know? | Lack of knowledge |
| 17 | cite:&makonye2020b | 1 | RSA | nat | qal | md1(20) | questionnaire/interview | ter | exp | What is MKT? | Lack of knowledge (account for cultural background) |
| 18 | cite:&msimango2020 | 1 | RSA | dev | qal | md1(12) | interviews | prm | fut | What TE? | Mentors can hinder knowledge development |
| 19 | cite:&mwadzaangati2019 | 1 | MAW | nat | qal | sma(2) | observation/interview | sec | exp | What is MKT? | Supporting development of knowledge is complex |
| 20 | cite:&ngema2019 | nMKT | RSA | oth | qal | sma(5) | interview | prm | not | What PD? | |
| 21 | cite:&pournara2015 | 1 | RSA | inf | sta | md1(21) | content tests (pre/post) | sec | prc | Contribute to student learning? | MKT influences student learning |
| 22 | cite:&setoromo2018 | 1 | LES | oth | sta | md2(48) | questionnaire | prm | prc | What teachers know? | Lack of knowledge |
| 23 | cite:&setoromo2020 | nMKT | |||||||||
| 24 | cite:&sibanda2021 | 1 | RSA | dev | sta | lrg(203) | survey | all | prc | What PD? | Mentors can influence knowledge development |
| 25 | cite:&siyepui2021 | 1 | RSA | oth | qal | md2(30) | test | all | fut | What teachers know? | Tasks can influence knowledge development |
| 26 | cite:&spangenberg2021 | 1 | RSA | inf | qal | md1(12) | none | sec | prc | What contributes to practice | PCK influences practice |
| 27 | cite:&tachie2019 | nMKT | |||||||||
| 28 | cite:&ubah2018 | 1 | RSA | oth | qal | md2(60) | interviews | prm | fut | What teachers know? | Lack of knowledge (deep understanding) |
| 29 | cite:&venkat2015 | 1 | RSA | dev | qal | sma(1) | observations, interviews | prm | prc | How MKT develops? | Development is possible |
| 30 | cite:&vermeulen2017 | 1 | RSA | oth | qal | sma(3) | questionnaire, interviews | prm | prc | What teachers know? | Lack of knowledge |
Prospective teachers had limited mathematics content knowledge, and effective measures are recommended.
The study included n=40 bachelor of education in mathematics students. So teachers are future (fut) teachers, and level is secondary (sec).South Africa (RSA)
What teachers know?
So, this is a study that fits into the “other” category.
Mathematics test
Use of descriptive statistics
The country is South Africa (RSA).
The sample size is n=253, which is Large
Teachers were lacking mathematical knowledge and understanding, in particular regarding problems at higher cognitive levels.
Teachers are grade 2 teachers (secondary), practicing.
What do teachers know?
National examination (National Senior Certificate), seven questions (reduced from 12)
An overall message in the study is that there is concern about mathematics teaching since many teachers’ “knowledge of school mathematics is so poor”.
It seems like participants are student teachers (fut)
South Africa (RSA)
Pre-service teachers need to revisit primary school mathematics to develop deep understanding. (Lack of knowledge)
What teachers know?
Two samples:
- 488 first year students
- 282 fourth year students
Total: lrg(770)
The poor performance of future teachers is of concern.
South Africa (RSA)
Sample size is n=50 (md2) Teachers seem to be in-service (prc) Level is secondary (sec)
It seems like the focus is not on MKT at all, but rather on how teachers consider professional development initiatives to impact their teaching practice.
The teacher is experienced (exp) Level is grade 2 (prm)
South Africa (RSA)
Knowledge of Content and Teaching (KCT) is particularly important for primary teachers, and other domains seem to inform this domain.
Qualitative case study (qal)
It seems like the study is on the nature of MKT (nat), and the problem is: What relationships? (between different aspects of MKT)
lrg(93)
Not a code, but perhaps it should be?
Seems like the problem is: What relationships? Type of study is probably (nat)
South Africa (RSA)
TPACK
Senior phase level, grades 7–9, which corresponds with middle school (mid) They were practicing teachers (prc)
Attending to teachers’ levels of TPACK is important for CPD, as teachers in RSA often struggle to implement ICT to support students’ learning of mathematics.
South Africa (RSA)
Neither the research question nor any of the sub-questions seem to focus on MKT or knowledge, so perhaps this study has to be excluded from the review?!
md2(45)
South Africa (RSA)
md1(17)
Qualitative study (qal)
Grade R, 5- and 6-year olds (prm)
Teachers only have superficial knowledge of counting (lack of knowledge)
It seems from the research question that the problem is: What contributes to practice? When considering the methods, results and discussion, however, it appears that practice is not really studied. The problem should thus be: What teachers know?
When considering the research question, it appears that the type of study would be about influence of MKT on teaching (inf). However, when considering methods, results and discussion, it seems like practice is not studied, and the type would thus be other (oth).
A scenario based questionnaire
South Africa (RSA)
md1(14)
From the abstract, it seems like this is a study on development of knowledge (dev)
The research questions point toward effect of interventions on teachers’ knowledge. What PD?
Qualitative study (qal)
Preschool and day care centres (prm)
COEMET classroom observation tool from Clements and Sarama
Teacher knowledge is important, but underdeveloped knowledge leads to poor teaching quality. (Indirectly, lack of knowledge)
Seems like this is about developing knowledge (dev), and this first sentence of the abstract indicates that the problem might be What PD?
South Africa (RSA)
Preservice teachers (fut)
Lack of knowledge. Authors highlight student teachers’ “disturbingly limited knowledge of mathematics content knowledge”. Need to “catch up” before they become teachers.
lrg(108)
Seems from the results that the primary focus is on statistical analysis.
South Africa (RSA)
Increased understanding of problem solving immediately influenced pedagogy.
What TE?
Focus on how teacher education (content course) influenced student teachers’ knowledge, via self-report
md2(62) Student teachers (fut)
Reflective journals
Qualitative (qal)
South Africa (RSA) and primary school (prm)
Seems like there is a focus on how Lesson Study might influence development of content knowledge
What PD?
sma(6)
Qualitative (qal)
Lesson Study enhanced participants’ content knowledge as well as their pedagogical content knowledge.
Malawi (MAW)
Pre-service teachers (fut)
From considering the research question, the problem seems to be: What teachers know?
But, I have to double-check if it is really about how TE influences knowledge.
Qualitative study (qal)
md1(23)
Questionnaire survey with open-ended items that focused on tasks of teaching
Malawian pre-service teachers emphasise the importance of curriculum content knowledge.
South Africa (RSA)
53+72: lrg(125)
Lesson study seems to positively influence teachers’ knowledge.
The research questions focus on effects of the intervention (PD), so the problem would be: What PD?
It would thus be a study about development (dev)
Seems like this is a qualitative study (qal)
Teachers were from different grade levels (all)
LSIR (Lesson Study: individual Report), in other words self-report or portfolio
When considering the research question, I wonder if this is a study of MKT after all… If so, it would be What PD?
md2(52)
md2(66)
Secondary teachers, grade 12 (sec)
South Africa (RSA)
Lack of knowledge, and teachers need to strengthen their SMK as well as their PCK
Although the research question is formulated with a focus on teacher perceptions, I think the problem would be: What teachers know?
This is very much a quantitative study (sta)
Country is South Africa (RSA)
md1(20)
Participants are teacher educators, so ter and prc
Lack of knowledge (about financial mathematics), and need to take cultural background into account.
Aim of developing framework to describe financial mathematics pedagogical content knowledge (fmPCK). So, the problem is probably: What is MKT?
Ranged from 8 to 33 years, with a mean of 21.6 years. So perhaps exp?
Questionnaire and group interviews
Constant comparison and grounded theory (qal)
Although mentors were also included the main focus seems to be on student teachers (fut), and participants were md1(12) primary (prm) student teachers.
Overall focus seems to be on development of MKT
South Africa (RSA)
Mentors hindered pre-service teachers development of knowledge, and more subject-specific mentoring practices are needed.
Focus on mentoring in TE, so I think it should be: What TE?
Qualitative analysis (qal)
Secondary school (sec)
sma(2)
Qualitative case study (qal)
Observation and interviews
Malawi (MAW)
The research question indicates that there is a focus on evaluating what teachers know, but the conclusion focuses on what is entailed in the work. I therefore suggest that this is a study about the nature of MKT (nat), and that the problem is: What is MKT?
Supporting development of mathematical knowledge for teaching is a complex work, but certain approaches provide better learning opportunities.
The teachers were purposively sampled based on their experience (exp)
South Africa (RSA)
I struggle to code the problem here, since the focus is only indirectly on MKT. Research question is: “How do principals identify professional development needs of foundation phase teachers in order to enhance their competencies?” (p. 759)
Foundation phase (grades 1–3), (prm)
Qualitative (qal)
sma(5), but the participants are principals and not teachers!
Interviews
South Africa (RSA)
Quasi-experimental design (qsi)
Grade 10 (sec)
The sample consists of students and teachers, and teachers in an intervention group and a control group. N=14+7, so md1(21)
Focus on how knowledge gains influence learning, so (inf)
Contribute to student learning?
Teachers’ mathematical knowledge matters for their students’ learning.
Practicing teachers (prc)
Statistical analysis (sta)
Lesotho (LES)
Practicing (prc) Grade R teachers (prm)
md2(48)
Questionnaires (focusing on knowledge, so more like tests?)
Research question is: “What do Grade R teachers’ written responses to a questionnaire reveal about their MKT of numeracy?” (p. 1)
So, the problem is What teachers know?
Teachers lacked fundamental mathematics knowledge, and this might negatively influence their teaching.
Although there is a combination of qualitative and quantitative components in the analysis, I would say that the primary focus seems to be on very simple (percentages) statistics (sta)
Lesotho (LES)
In-service teachers (prc) teaching grade R (prm)
Qualitative case study (qal)
The problem focuses on understanding of teaching, and perhaps not directly on MKT?!
Mentoring can positively influence development of content knowledge, despite tensions with mentors.
What PD?
(How a mentorship program influenced development of knowledge)
South Africa (RSA)
203 in-service teachers participated in PD, so lrg(203) and (prc)
Survey/questionnaire
Analysis focuses on participants’ feelings about mentors and whether or not mentors helped them learn, so there is only a very weak (at best) focus on MKT here.
South Africa (RSA)
30 pre-service teachers, so md2(30) and (fut)
Research questions focus on what lecturers can do to enhance pre-service teachers’ knowledge, so I think it should be: What TE?
Qualitative descriptive case study (qal)
The purpose seems to be to investigate PSTs’ levels of knowledge… (What teachers know?)
Content tasks
Carefully crafted tasks that are close to practice can positively influence pre-service teachers’ developing knowledge.
South Africa (RSA)
Secondary school (sec)
Twelve teachers, md1(12)
Focus is on how PCK manifests itself in practice, so Contribute to practice? or What contributes to practice? From looking at the discussion, I think the latter is most appropriate.
“How does PCK on trigonometry manifest itself in teachers’ practice?” (p. 139)
Exploratory qualitative case study (qal)
The teachers’ experience ranged from 4 to 34 years, so it should probably be (prc)
none
Although the authors claim to be using qualitative design, analysis reports primarily on counts! So, I might have to reconsider qal…
Teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge is manifested in practice.
South Africa (RSA)
Participants were three teachers from three primary schools.
sma(3)
prm
Interviews and observations
The research question is: “How do teachers’ use meta-cognitive skills in class in order to support learners’ development of mathematics problem-solving?” (p. 145)
Qualitative design (qal)
The focus in this study is on teaching, what teachers do, and in particular how they use meta-cognitive skills, and not so much on MKT.
60 pre-service teachers participated, so fut and md2(60)
Pre-service teachers were lacking in deep understanding of content.
prm
Task-based interviews
qal
The problem is not formulated as a research question in this paper, but the focus is clearly on What teachers know?
South Africa (RSA)
Case study of one teacher, sma(1)
Development of knowledge (dev)
The teacher was a practicing teacher, but he was not teaching mathematics this school year (prc)
Grades 6 and 7 in primary school (prm) or perhaps mid since it is clearly in the range of 5–9?
Clearly qualitative focus (qal)
The problem is a little bit unclear, but there is a focus on How MKT develops? so I think this should be the problem.
Mathematical practices can be developed, but certain aspects require “explicit, consistent, and longitudinal attention”
Three grade 5 and 6 teachers participated, so sma(3) and prm
Qualitative case study (qal)
Lack of knowledge about the equal sign.
In part, the problem relates to What teachers know? but there is also a focus on how teachers knowledge might influence students’ learning.
South Africa (RSA)
Teachers had low levels of MKT of the equal sign
bibliographystyle:bath bibliography:mktafrica.bib