Abstract
A constructivist learning approach to the integration of e-learning into the teaching of foundation phase mathematics at a primary school in the Gauteng province The South African government in the process of limiting movement and gathering during the COVID-19 pandemic introduced school lockdown, this accelerated the need for online learning, as learners could not attend traditional face-to-face classroom teaching and learning of mathematics. Applying a qualitative research method that agrees with the interpretivist paradigm the researcher explored the teacher phenomenon of constructivist teaching of mathematics problem solving to foundation phase learners using e-learning. The study used the constructivism theoretical framework. The study focused on a case study of a private school situated in Gauteng Province. E-learning was implemented by the school during the South African COVID-19 lockdown period. A study population of eight foundation phase mathematics teachers was used in the study. The teachers were selected using the purposive and expert sampling techniques. The researcher created semi-structured questions that were used during individual and focus-group interviews. Zoom recording function was used to record the interviews, the data was then transcribed verbatim. Data was analysed thematically using a four-step process. The findings revealed that online constructivist teaching of mathematics is a learner-centred approach that incorporated blended learning and learner collaboration. The study also reveals that constructivist teachers as facilitators of learning should promote inquiry based and discovery learning leading to learners gaining skills to solve mathematics problems whilst learning online. Teachers had to adapt and gain technological and pedagogical skills through training and experimenting to provide authentic learning using e-learning. The findings can assist policy and decision makers in integrating e-learning in the constructivist teaching of mathematics to foundation phase learners, one can conclude that an e-learning plan including teacher training and e-learning resources are essential.
M.Ed. (Information and Communication Technology in Education)