4.4 METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION
4.4.3 The Research Instruments
4.4.3.2 The interviews
The second data-collecting method was an interview schedule. Choongwa (2018) describes interviews as a form of data collection method that uses some form of first hand human vocal interactions. These interactions are some form of interrogation between two individuals or among some people which may elicit different views or ideas. Maree (2007) and, McMillan and Schumacher (2010) agree that interviews involve a two-way conversation between individuals in which the interviewer asks the respondent questions to collect information to learn about the ideas, beliefs, views, opinions and behaviours of the respondent.
In this study, interviews were used to get an understanding and an insight into Grade 6 Mathematics teachers’ constructions of learner-centred teaching and meaningful learning in their learner-centred practices. According to McMillan and Schumacher (2010), an interview schedule has the following advantages:
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It is a flexible method of questioning that allows for further probing, clarifications, and explanations hence encouraging more complete information than would be available in say, written form.
It is possible to channel the respondent’s thinking to areas of concern in order to identify relevant constructions s/he holds.
Both non-verbal and verbal behaviour can be noted in face-to-face interviews.
However, McMillan and Schumacher (2010), argue that some of interview schedule’s disadvantages are that:
It has a potential for subjectivity and bias. The interviewer may ask probing questions to support a particular point of view, and his/her interpretation of what the respondent stated may be inaccurate.
It lacks anonymity because the interview involves one-to-one conversations.
Also, there is a danger of interviews becoming ordinary conversations without any desirable results hence only few people could really conduct them well.
While I was not experienced in conducting interviews in research, I did try to overcome these disadvantages by being more objective as I asked the teachers probing questions to elicit information from them.
Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions were used to enable interview conversations. According to Alsaawi (2014), a semi-structured interview is a form of data collection technique which is a mix of both structured and unstructured interviews. Choongwa (2018) elaborates that the questions when using semi-structured interviews, are pre-planned prior to the actual interview, but the interviewer gives the interviewee the opportunity to elaborate and explain particular issues through the use of open-ended questions. During the interview I allowed the teachers to think about the questions that I posed before giving me their responses. I then continued to ask them probing questions depending on their responses. In that way I was able to get more information from them.
I used a semi-structured interview in the study because it would enable teachers to respond freely in their own terms (Cohen et al., 2000). In other words, it
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allows the teachers freedom to talk about what is of central significance to them rather than to the interviewer. In a semi-structured interview, questions are phrased in order to allow for probing and they also allow for individual responses. It can be argued therefore that, generally, interviews provide a variety of ways for gaining insights into aspects of teachers’ cognitive structures. Whilst semi-structured interviews give the researcher appropriate chances to ask as many questions as possible on particular issues which might be unstructured, their main disadvantage is that they may obstruct the depth and richness of the responses (Choongwa, 2018). It can be pointed out that semi- structured interviews are time consuming as they have to be audio recorded and transcribed for analysis.
In this study, three Grade 7 Mathematics teachers were interviewed. The interviews were semi-structured, with open-ended questions and each interview with the teachers lasted for about 30 minutes. The interviews gathered information on teachers’ conceptions of learner-centred teaching and their constructions of meaningful learning. The teachers were interviewed separately in their respective schools, within school hours and after each lesson observation. The interviews were conducted in an empty classroom with only the interviewee and the researcher present.
During the interviews, I told the teachers to use either SiSwati, which is the vernacular language in Eswatini, or English, which is the medium of instruction in Eswatini where the study was conducted. This was done so as to give them the opportunity to express their ideas freely using the language they were comfortable with. However, all three teachers chose to respond in English. In instances where the teacher was not clear, the researcher asked for clarifications from the teacher. All the interviews that were conducted were audio-recorded by the researcher. The audio recordings were fully transcribed (see Appendices for copies of the interview transcripts), and the transcripts were used in the data analysis.
Fraenkel and Wallen (1990) point out that audio-recording interviews in research has advantages, especially during the data analysis process. According to them some of the advantages are:
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The interviewer may miss much that goes on in an interview hence audio recording them would be fruitful.
The tape produced may be replayed for continued study and analysis.
Experts or interested others can hear what the researcher audio recorded and offer their insightful advice accordingly.
It is on the basis of the above advantages that, in the study, I opted to audio record the teacher interviews. Even more so, writing the interviewee responses down using paper-and-pencil would be time consuming and can distract the researcher hence the benefits of audio recording. The interviews focused mainly on the following (see detailed interview schedule in Appendices)
The teachers’ understanding of learner-centred teaching.
Their experiences about learner-centred teaching
The teaching strategies used by the teachers during the observed lessons.
Reasons for the choice of the strategies used.
The use of prior knowledge by the teachers in the lessons.
How the teachers attempted to incorporate prior knowledge.
How was prior knowledge probed by the teacher?
Their rationale for using/or not using prior knowledge?
The teachers’ understanding of the construct, meaningful learning.
The teachers’ reasoning about particular incidents observed during the lessons that may have or may not have led to meaningful learning by the learners.
How the teachers enabled meaningful learning in their lessons?
Whether the teachers used concrete materials in his/her teaching.
Reason(s) for using concrete materials in his/her teaching.
Through the semi-structured interviews, my aim was to collect data that would enable me to answer the research questions in relation to meaningful learning in learner-centred practices by the three selected teachers as they teach Mathematics.
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