Eugenie Uwamariya

2 Publications in AERD

Author Publications

Contribution of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Training Programme on Rwandan Secondary School Mathematics and Science Teachers’ Pedagogical, Technological, and Content knowledge

By Pheneas Nkundabakura

Teachers teach more effectively when they are constantly updating their subject content knowledge and pedagogy as well as technology. This requires Continuous Professional Development (CPD) training programmes in order to cope with changing world in terms of nature of science, skills and technology. Therefore, the current study sought to demonstrate the improvements made by lower secondary school Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology teachers following CPD training in content, pedagogy, using ICT tools (computers and projectors), and scripted lessons. The study's target population was 1100 Rwandan teachers in the 2021 cohort from eight districts. However, the analysis only included 652 mathematics and science teachers who took both pre-and post-tests. This study employed a quasi-experimental design. It collected quantitative data, through pre and post-test, to measure teachers' performance and conceptual grasp in mathematics or science courses. Kobo Toolbox was used to upload tests online and gather data, which was then exported to Microsoft Excel 2016, where each selected letter for each question was recorded. The acquired data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2016 and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS v.25). The findings revealed that overall teachers’ performance improved, indicating that teacher misconceptions were addressed throughout training. Only a significant differences were found in the performance between male and female in both pre-and post-test in chemistry, among other subjects. It was also discovered that some concepts in respective courses need attention in the next CPD training programmes because teachers performed poorly on questions asked in these units per topic areas. It was recommended that the remedial training should be pursued for these teachers who did not perform well and further studies to investigate pedagogical changes as well as technological contribution in STEM education. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023.

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Effectiveness of the continuous professional development training on upper primary mathematics and science and elementary technology teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Rwanda

By Pheneas Nkundabakura

This research aimed to determine the influence of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) training offered by Rwanda Quality Basic education for Capital Human Development Project (RQBEHCD) sub-component 1.2 on upper primary teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) in mathematics and science, and elementary technology (SET) subjects. The study adopted an explanatory sequential design to collect and analyze data. Quantitative data were collected from Mathematics and SET achievement tests while qualitative data were collected from semi-structured interview. Quantitative data were collected from 290 participants including 166 male and 124 female teachers. On the other side, the qualitative data were collected from 20 teachers including 12 males and 8 females selected randomly. Descriptive and inferential statistics (repeated measures Analysis of Variance were used to analyze quantitative data while interpretive and thematic analysis were used to analyze qualitative data. The results found high statistical significance in mean scores of mathematics teachers between pre and post-test, with a p < 0.001, medium learning gain of 0.37, and an effect size of 0.450. However, there were no significant differences found between male and female teachers (p > 0.05). Likewise, SET teacher's results showed a significant difference in mean score between pre and post-test with p < 0.01, learning gain of 0.20, and effect size of 0.432 but no significant difference was found between male and female teachers (p > 0.05). In addition, the qualitative results indicated that the CPD program enhanced engagement, interest, confidence, and self-efficacy in teaching Mathematics and Science. Thus, we recommended that the CPD program should be done nationwide to maintain teachers’ PCK in mathematics and science. © The Author(s) 2024.

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