An investigation of teacher’s practices when teaching mass measurement in grade 4 in Malawi

Abstract

This paper reports on a study on teachers’ practices when teaching mass measurement in grade 4 in Malawi. Data was collected from video recordings of three grade 4 teachers (two lessons each) who were purposively sampled to ensure they were teaching measurement of mass. The teachers’ practices were analysed using the Mathematics Discourse in Instruction (MDI) framework. Findings of the study showed that the common teachers’ practices included: having lesson plans with clear lesson goals, using similar examples and tasks throughout the lessons, involving learners in hands-on activities without providing the conceptual understanding of the tasks, and asking low level questions. We argue that teachers’ practices when teaching mass measurement should focus more on developing learners’ conceptual understandings of mass measurement.