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6.2.1 Materials and methods

While details of the structure of the MapTrix Questionnaire are discussed in Chapter Three, only the details relative to the teachers, gleaned from the first page of the questionnaire (Appendix 3.1), are dealt with in this chapter. A pilot survey was conducted with six geography teachers at schools in and around Cape Town using a draft of the Questionnaire. The selected schools ranged from extremely well-resourced to poorly resourced. Structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with three educators; structured telephone interviews were conducted with the others who had each received the draft questionnaire for close scrutiny beforehand. All participants were asked to comment on the clarity of the questions and their suggestions were later incorporated into the final document. An educator from an under-resourced school advised that questionnaires should be addressed to the school principals, not senior geography teachers. He intimated that, because of the strict hierarchical authority structure in many schools for Black learners, unless a task was assigned by the principal it would not be undertaken. Where their comments have relevance to, or help explain, the results of the national survey, the contributions of those who piloted the questionnaire are included.

As reported in Chapter Three, of the 1 410 questionnaires that were despatched only 178 were returned and were available for use in constructing a profile of educators teaching Geography at schools across South Africa. In section A of the questionnaire, access to learning materials, teaching

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aids and educator training were evaluated. Most of the questions in this section were of a general nature and could be answered by all 178 educators who responded (whether their MapTrix Kits had been received or not). Many participants left spaces blank and therefore only ticked answers and written responses were analysed. No answers were assumed to be either positive or negative by default.

6.2.2 Results

• Geography teacher profile

Geography teaching experience of 178 respondents ranged from 1 year (or less) to 30 years with a mean of 9.8 years, closely matching the pilot survey group whose mean years of experience was 9.5. Of the available population sample, 112 educators (62.9 %) felt that they had originally been adequately prepared to teach map use but only 100 (56.2 %) indicated that they still felt confident of their map use skills. Of the pilot group, only one felt that he had been adequately prepared during initial teacher training but four of the six had made the effort to upgrade their own skills and currently felt confident to teach map skills.

From the national survey six (3.4 %) believed that using MapTrix could not improve their skills further and 11 (6.2 %) were undecided. The majority of the educators who responded, 161 (90.4 %), believed that using MapTrix, which is intended to teach basic map reading only, could lead to an improvement in their own map use skills. All but one of the pilot group felt that MapTrix could probably improve their skills further. While this was the first indication of a positive attitude towards the learning programme, it also confirmed that teachers had low levels of confidence in their own map skills.

• Availability of resources for teaching map skills

With regard to resources available at their schools, 135 (75.8 %) educators felt that these were not adequate for the general needs of their schools and 139 (78.1 %) indicated that their geography resources were particularly inadequate. Three of the pilot teachers felt that resources were adequate for general teaching but only two of these felt that their geography resources were adequate. The other three educators thought that neither the general needs of their schools nor those for geography teaching were being met. In discussion with the pilot survey participants, it was agreed that it would be useful to provide an opportunity for teachers to list explicitly those items which they needed. This was added to the final questionnaire format.

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Of the group that indicated inadequate resources, 84 % (117 of 139) took the trouble to comment on the resources not available to them for teaching map use to their geography classes (Table 6.1). As with the analysis of all comments solicited in the survey, words or phrases were noted as they appeared, repeat incidents were recorded and similarities grouped into categories.

The plight of 23 of the 117 educators who commented (19.6 %) appeared quite desperate. Of these, 15 required ‘everything’ or ‘anything to help us’ and eight indicated the need for an equipped geography classroom. In most cases, educators were less vague and 94 of them listed the specific items they required. In Table 6.1 the requested items are ranked according to most urgent need.

Table 6.1 Resources required for teaching map use, mentioned specifically by 94 teachers who responded to the

MapTrix Questionnaire, that were not available to them at their schools

Category of equipment

Type of equipment required by teacher Number of times listed Total per category Percentage of teachers requiring resources General 38 Topographic maps 40 Local topographic map sheets 23 Maps

Aerial photographs and/or

orthophoto maps 18 119 100 % + (Some teachers listed various kinds of maps individually) Globes 18 Compasses 6 Stereoscopes 12 Measuring wheels 4 Mathematical equipment 6 Special equipment 3D models 5 51 54 % Overhead projector 5 Transparencies 1 Television and video machine 14 Videos 10 Computers 2 Slide Projector 1 Electronic equipment and accessories Light table 1 34 36 % Text books 11 Atlases 5 Texts

Sundries (exercises, syllabus etc) 4

20 21 % Workshops on map use 6

Training and/or

assistance Senior/ additional educator 2 8 8 %

Resources required for teaching map use at the under-resourced schools in the pilot survey included: local maps such as topographic maps and orthophoto maps in sufficient numbers to allow at least shared use by pupils, a dedicated geography classroom to leave teaching materials on display, instruments such as rulers and protractors, stereoscopes and a 3D landscape model. The general teaching requirements list included: overhead projectors, video machines and monitors (television sets), geography text books and smaller class numbers. Resources available at these schools were limited to insufficient numbers of maps from past examination papers. One educator

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indicated that he had a map use textbook and a black-board protractor with which to demonstrate the measurement of bearing but that his learners could not afford to buy protractors with which to practice this task. One educator was unaware that specific textbooks on map use were available.

Table 6.2 Resources for teaching map use that were available to 152 geography teachers who responded to the relevant section of the MapTrix Questionnaire

Category of equipment

Type of available equipment listed by teacher Number of times listed Total per category Percentage of teachers that had resources (per category) Overhead projector 1 Electronic equipment

and accessories Videos 2

3 2 % globes 9 stereoscopes 3 Special equipment mathematical equipment 2 14 9.2 % Text books 14 atlases 5 Texts

sundries (exercises, syllabus etc) 2

21

13.8 % Unspecified map stocks

• some

• enough

32 28 Maps

Topographic maps, aerial

photographs and/or orthophoto maps (from past exams)

17

77

50.7 %

There was also a question dealing with the resources that were available in geography classrooms. Of the 178 educators who responded 26 (16.3 %) indicated that they had adequate resources and no needs. They did not itemise what was available to them. The resources available to the other 152 who listed items are summarised in Table 6.2. The availability of maps was mentioned 77 times but in only 28 cases were the supplies adequate for the sizes of their classes. In the pilot study, only two of the six educators indicated that their schools were adequately resourced. They listed the resources available to them for teaching map use provided by their schools as: sufficient maps both in variety and quantity (both purchased and from past examination papers), a map use text book for each learner and stereoscopes. They also indicated that their learners purchased equipment such as rulers and protractors.

• MapTrix as a teaching resource

Designed as an introductory programme for map reading, MapTrix was not designed to meet all the needs of learners preparing for the matriculation practical paper for Geography, yet 43 educators (46.7 %) felt that it did so. This was also reflected by the fact that educators recommended Grade 12 almost as often as Grades 10 and 11 as the most suitable Grade for using MapTrix. However, 87 (94.6 %) concurred that a self-instruction programme for map analysis would be helpful. While two teachers in the pilot survey also felt that MapTrix met all the needs of learners preparing for the

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practical paper, they too concurred that a self-instruction programme for map analysis would be helpful. This disparity between needing help to teach the full range of map use skills (map reading, analysis and interpretation) and needing help to teach only map reading suggests that the teachers' main priority at poorly resourced schools is simply achieving a pass for candidates in the practical examination. They do not appear to aspire to assuring that their learners can master the full range of map use skills.

• Use of local maps

It is recommended in the MapTrix Educator’s Guide that the local topographic map should be on display in the classroom while the Kit is being used and that learners should be encouraged to locate familiar features to help them build up their cognitive maps to match as closely as possible the cartographic map of their environment (Lynch, 1973; Stea and Blaut, 1973b). When asked whether they had done so, only two educators (of 96) had in fact complied. Both agreed that their learners showed an interest in the local map and that they were able to identify familiar local features but only one felt that this had improved their attitude to map reading. None of the teachers had used a topographic map for local fieldwork or for environmental studies.

• Availability of computers for teaching Geography

A question was included to gauge whether conversion of the MapTrix programme to a computer- based training programme would render it more useful in schools. Five of the six pilot schools had computer terminals available to learners but they could mostly be used only by a few individuals at a time and not by large class groups. Of the 96 teachers who evaluated MapTrix, 44 (47.8 %) reported that their schools possessed computer terminals available to learners but limitations on their computer use was unfortunately not assessed. Limitations on geography learners' access to school computers was later identified in the intervention with teachers that is discussed in section 6.4.

6.2.3 Discussion

The response to a national survey to evaluate the MapTrix learning and teaching support materials (LTSM) for topographic map reading was poor and thus may not be fully representative of all schools where Geography was being offered to Grade 12 at the time. However, certain trends were clear from those who did respond indicating that the majority of schools were under-supplied both in material and adequately trained human resources. Of the teachers who responded, 78 % lacked adequate resources for teaching map use and only 56 % of the 178 senior geography teachers

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surveyed were confident of their own map use skills, 90 % believing that their skills could be improved by a basic topographic map reading programme. Perhaps the most important finding in relation to the current investigation is that 95 % of geography teachers agreed that a self-instruction programme for map analysis would be a valuable resource.