Exploring Assessment Techniques that Integrate Soft Skills in Teaching Mathematics in Secondary Schools in Zambia

Abstract

This study investigated the assessment techniques mathematics teachers use that integrate soft skills in secondary schools in Mazabuka District in Zambia. A total of 91 teachers, who were purposively selected, took part in the study, of which 81 completed a questionnaire and four observers evaluated 124 video-recorded lessons which were taken of 31 teachers. A sequential multi-phase design was used to collect data. The data were analyzed using frequencies, means, standard deviations and chi-square statistics. The findings revealed that the assessment techniques mathematics teachers used did not assess soft skills. In addition, mathematics teachers’ gender was not found to have influenced teachers’ choice of assessment techniques in the teaching and learning process but the type of schools where teachers were teaching, though the effect size was weaker. The consequence of this may be that secondary school leavers may not be good communicators, innovators, creators and critical thinkers. Therefore, it is recommended that mathematics teachers be upskilled on how to assess soft skills in the teaching and learning of Mathematics if the integration of soft skills is to be realized as espoused in the Zambia Education Curriculum Framework of 2013.