1.6.1 Availability of examination scores
While the new curriculum model was being prepared for implementation, annual school leaving examinations continued to be written. Although now written by all candidates, these were based largely on the syllabuses that had been in place for White learners in the four original provinces (Figure 1.1). Anecdotal evidence from various geography teachers, subject advisors and examiners suggested that poor scores for the practical paper brought overall geography examination scores down. To investigate this assumption further, the geography examination data from the National Department of Education were requested. While such data had previously been difficult to obtain, the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), operating under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (No. 2 of 2000), (Government Gazette, 2000), readily released the data which throw light on the balance of scores between the two examination papers.
During the 2000 to 2007 period under review, learners were offered the option of writing their matriculation examinations at either Higher or Standard Grade. (Since 2008 this option is no longer offered). The grades are distinguished by the different focus on questions requiring recall, analysis or interpretation answers. The Standard Grade paper was weighted towards recall and the Higher Grade paper weighted towards interpretation and analysis. Candidates had the same amount of time to complete the two examinations but the Standard Grade exam was out of 300 marks while the Higher Grade exam was out of 400. Since 2006, all provinces have been using the same breakdown of marks with the practical paper contributing 25% towards the examination total, although this was not always the case (as illustrated in the table in Appendix 1.2).
1.6.2 Hypotheses and data analysis method
The dataset provided by SITA is extremely valuable and could form the basis of a broad investigation into the standard of geography teaching in South Africa as evidenced by the different numbers of learners taking the subject, their selection of higher or standard grade, trends in the scores for the theory and practical exam papers and much more. However, the data are used here to address only three hypotheses.
(i) Scores for the Geography Practical examination paper (focused on map use) are generally poor.
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(ii) Scores for the Geography Theory examination paper are generally higher than the scores for the Practical Paper.
(iii) Candidates' scores improved with time as they and their teachers adapted to the new examination format.
Data were supplied by SITA in an Access database for all geography examination candidates, for all provinces, for the eight year period from 2000 to 2007. They were converted to 18 Excel workbooks using Microsoft Excel 2007 in which Higher Grade and Standard Grade examination levels were distinguished from each other for each of the nine provinces. Results for the theory and practical papers were listed for each of the eight years and the following data extracted – count, average, standard deviation and variance. Only those candidates for whom examination results were available for both examination papers were used in the population sample and all examination paper results were converted to percentages rounded down to the nearest integer. Mean scores for the theory and practical papers for each province are plotted alongside the differences between the two papers (Appendix 1.3, Figures A1.1 to A1.9).
1.6.3 Poor examination scores for map use
Figure 1.3 Mean scores for the Matriculation Geography Practical examination paper (in brackets) plus scores for the beginning and end of the data period (2000 to 2007)
The pooled mean annual scores from 2000 to 2007 for the Practical paper for each province have been plotted in rank order (highest to lowest) in Figure 1.3 with the mean scores from 2000 and 2007 plotted on either side. From this simplistic representation of the data it is clear that only one
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province, Western Cape, produced average scores above 50 %. The 2007 mean score is higher than 2000 which indicates an improving trend in this province as well as in Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Free State and North West. KwaZulu-Natal scores have remained almost consistent for the period unlike the scores for Northern Cape, Mpumalanga and Limpopo which show a decline between 2000 and 2007.
While the improved scores in some provinces are encouraging, the fact that only one province has a mean score over 50 %, one a mean score of 41 %, four have scores between 30 % and 40 % and three have scores below 30 % indicates poor results overall. This evidence supports hypothesis (i) that scores for the Geography Practical paper are poor, indicating a wide disparity between what the examiners expect learners to be able to do, using maps and other spatial information, and what they are actually capable of doing.
1.6.4 Comparing the results of the theory and practical geography examination papers
Table 1.3 Comparison of annual mean scores (2000 – 2007) for Theory and Practical Geography Examination Papers at Higher and Standard Grade (based on data represented in Appendix 1.3) indicating the years out of eight when one was better than the other
Higher Grade Standard Grade
Province No of years (/8) Theory better than Practical Paper Count (mean ) No of years (/8) Theory better than Practical paper Count (mean)
Geography examination candidates, both grades (annual average)
Northern Cape 7 821 7 2 955 3 775 Gauteng 6 13 106 7 21 095 34 200 Western Cape 5 5 921 6 13 680 19 600 Limpopo 5 45 761 4 8 677 54 438
Theory better than Practical
Total 112 013 KwaZulu-Natal 2 22 957 4 28 949 51 906 North West 3 12 459 3 12 063 24 522 Eastern cape 3 7 667 2 29 936 37 602 Free State 1 4 502 2 6 258 10 760 Mpumalanga 1 12 993 1 8 109 21 102
Practical better than Theory
Total 145 892
Average number of geography candidates per year (2000 to 2007) 257 905
In Appendix 1.3, the scores for each year for the Theory and Practical papers for each province have been plotted, Higher Grade in Figures A1.1(a) to A1.9(a) and Standard Grade in Figures A1.1(c) to A1.9(c). Beside the mean score graphs, the differences between the scores have been highlighted, Higher Grade in Figures A1.1(b) to A1.9(b) and Standard Grade in Figures A1.1(d) to A1.9(d). The scores for the Theory and Practical Papers were compared per year to establish
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whether candidates' theoretical knowledge was better than their practical skills; the results are summarised in Table 1.3. In four provinces (Northern Cape, Gauteng, Western Cape and Limpopo) scores for the Theory Paper are generally higher than for the Practical Paper. Between them, these provinces produce annually (on average) 43 % of the total number of geography matriculants whose theoretical knowledge is better than their map skills.
In contrast, there are five provinces (KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Eastern Cape, Free State and Mpumalanga), together producing 57 % of the geography matriculation candidates, where the Theory scores are not generally better than Practical scores. Because a greater percentage of learners over the study period have fared better on the Practical than on the Theory paper, the evidence does not support hypothesis (ii) that scores for the Geography Theory examination paper are generally higher than the scores for the Practical Paper.
1.6.5 Improved trends in map skills
In an attempt to ascertain whether there was any long term improvement in candidates' map use skills as teachers became more familiar with the changed examination format, the mean annual examination results for the Practical Paper were plotted for the period under review in Figure 1.4 (a - c). Provinces are grouped according to general improvement in map skills starting with Western Cape (period mean of 52 %), Free State (period mean of 37 %) and North West (period mean of 27 %). The three that showed little change were KwaZulu-Natal which maintained an average of 41 % while both Gauteng and Eastern Cape attained a period mean of only 37 %. While Northern Cape scores have vacillated around 39 %, both Mpumalanga and Limpopo scores declined steadily after 2002 leading to a period mean of 30 % and 27 % respectively. The trends only partially support hypothesis (iii) that scores will improve with examination familiarity.
Although it has been shown, contrary to expectations, that scores for the Practical Paper are better than for the Theory Paper in some provinces, rather than suggesting that their map skills are good, the results show that these candidates' mean theory scores are particularly bad. One exception is KwaZulu-Natal where the scores for both papers tend towards 40 % as shown in Figure A1.5 (a) and (c) in Appendix 1.3. There are also some years when the Theory scores are better than the Practical scores in this province (see Figures A1.5 (b) and (d)).