Abstract:
This small-scale case study researches the importance of analysing the
mathematics competencies assessed by a selection of tasks developed for a
portfolio in Grade 9 during 2003. The tasks are analysed according to the
cognitive demand placed on the learners, plus their open-ended versus
closed nature. This research reveals that the weaker ability learners
experience a greater apparent benefit, compared to the stronger ability
mathematics learners. Although there are other mathematical competencies
assessed in this research report, those of ‘thinking and reasoning
mathematically’ and ‘representing and explaining mathematical entities’ are
most problematic, compared to the more traditional competencies of
‘memorisation’ and ‘manipulation of mathematical symbols and formalisms’.
Assessing the tasks from the perspective of mathematical competencies, may
serve to provide an alternative framework for analysing the appropriateness
or not of tasks used in the development of portfolios and thus improve the
practises of mathematics teachers in general.
