Abstract:
The study explored mentoring activities experienced by mathematics interns during the
internship programme. It further explored interns’ evaluation of mentors' professional
competences and how it shapes their conception and vision of teaching and learning of
mathematics and how the student internship programme can be improved. The study
surveyed 134 mathematics interns from UEW. Data was collected using questionnaire
and interviews. Among the interns surveyed, five were selected for interviews. The data
was analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic narrative approaches. The major
findings were that mentoring activities experienced in UEW partnership schools were in
consonance with the guidelines of the Student Internship Programmeme (SIP). Interns’
evaluation of their mentors’ revealed that mentoring practices were generally satisfactory.
The findings further showed that mentoring practices shaped interns’ conceptions and
vision of teaching and learning mathematics. However, interns strongly advocated for an
extension of the duration of the Student Internship Programme to one full academic year.
This will enable them build enough confidence and be exposed to varied classroom
situations geared towards their professional development. Supervision by university
lecturers should be more than once.
Description:
A THESIS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS EDUCATION, FACULTY OF
SCIENCE EDUCATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES,
UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR AWARD OF THE MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY
(MATHEMATICS EDUCATION) DEGREE
JULY, 2015