CONTEXTUALISATION AND METHODOLOGY
4.4 Data generation procedures
4.4.1 Negotiating access into the Colleges
Carrying out research studies in schools can be considered an obstruction to the daily routines of the school and therefore involves obtaining permission from the relevant authorities (gatekeepers).
Before entry into the Colleges of Education, the researcher first saught permission from each of Emily Sekyi Wilson Fordjour Anani Peprah
Gender Female Male Male Male Male Female
College Roberkeyta Roberkeyta Oswald Oswald PhilNeri PhilNeri Qualifications M.Ed.&
M.Phil
M.Ed.&
M.Phil
M.Ed. M.Ed. M.Ed. M.Phil
Teaching experience
20 years 26 years 20 years 20 years 32 years 22 years
Module taught Methods of Teaching Basic School Mathematics
Methods of Teaching Basic School Mathematics
& Algebra 1
Further Algebra
Trigonometry Methods of Teaching Basic School Mathematics
Algebra 1
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the principals (Heads of the teacher colleges). The researcher made a telephone call to each principal of the selected colleges, which was followed by a letter (see Appendix C) to them requesting written permission after receiving positive verbal responses. The letter contained details of the study and related ethical issues as well as the purpose of the study and how it would be conducted in the college.
After visiting the colleges, the researcher met with the Heads of Departments (HoDs) and members of the mathematics unit to brief them on the study. I assured them of confidentiality, anonymity, and the right to withdraw from the study at any time without any negative consequences. They were also made to understand that participation is voluntary; therefore teacher educators who agreed to participate in the study were given an informed consent letter to sign. The procedure used in negotiating access into the various colleges and to the participants is presented in Figure 4.1
Figure 4.1: Procedures for negotiating access to the colleges and the participants.
The main aim of data production for the study was to gather information on teacher educators' understanding of FA and how their understanding informs their practices in mathematics modules.
In this section, the data collection techniques that inform the process of data generation and were used in the study have been briefly mentioned. Data were generated through the followingresearch methods: semi-structured interview, focus group discussion (FGD), lesson observation, and textual (document) analysis. Texts such as teacher educators' course outlines and students’ marked scripts were also analysed.
Participants sign informed consent
form Discussed suitable date and time with participants for interview and class
observation HoDs introduce
me to colleague mathematics
educators Aim of the study explained to MTEs Met with HODs
and other MTEs in the various
colleges Telephonic conversion
with Principals
Discussed the study and data generation
techniques Permission letter written to principals (Informed consent)
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The first phase of data production for the study started in the second week of January and ended in the third week of March 2019. Data generation was discontinued by the researcher after he had visited only two of the selected colleges, because the fourth week of March was a revision week towards the writing of end-of-semester examinations. The researcher continued data collection on 9 May after resumption of the second semester, and ended it in the third week of June 2019. In all, the study lasted for 12 weeks, with four weeks spent at each research site.
There were four cycles of visits to each of the colleges after access was gained to them through permission from the relevant authority. The first visit was for a semi-structured interview with the individual participating teacher educators and the other three visits were to observe how these teacher educators enacted FA in their mathematics modules while FGD was conducted after the second phase of data generation (lessons observation)
The methods used to generate data in this study are summarised in Table 4.3.
97 Table 4.3: Summary of data generating methods
Critical research questions
Data collection technique and instruments
Participants Rationale Limitations
RQ1:
What are mathematics teacher educators' (MTEs)
understanding of formative
assessment (FA) in mathematics?
Semi- structured Interview
Instrument:
Audio recorder
MTEs To obtain MTEs’
knowledge of FA
The interviewee may feel uneasy (stage fright) and might hold back relevant
information. Or they might respond in a way that they think will impress the interviewer. Therefore, class observation would follow.
RQ2:
How do MTEs enact FA in mathematics?
Observation
Instruments:
Semi- structured observation schedule and video camera
MTEs To obtain first-hand
information on how MTEs implement FA in mathematics
Observer biases and observer effects. A researcher may be seen as intrusive. Therefore, mutual trust will be fostered through spending time with individual participants in their settings to avert this problem.
RQ3:
Why do MTEs use the FA techniques that they do?
Interview and FGD
Instrument:
Audio recorder
MTEs Individual interviews
will be used to bridge the gap between their knowledge (obtained in the first part of data collection) to their practice, collected via observation. Focus group interviews will be used to understand common or different views about FA which will shed some light on the MTEs’ practices and broaden the spectrum of discussion from one-on- one to a group
discussion
The interviewee might keep repeating information. While this might seem redundant, it will shed some light on their observed practices. In the focus group, some MTEs might not participate. Rather than asking questions, the researcher will bring extracts from newspapers articles and so on about FA to start off the discussion, and use the think- pair-share strategy to ensure full participation.
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In the next section the methods of data collection (interview, observation, FGD) used in this study are explained in detail. The critical research questions of the study were answered by generating data from interviews, observation, an FGD and document review.