SAIDE conducts a formative evaluation of Mindset Learn

Mindset Learn is an educational programme offered via satellite television with multimedia support. The programme is broadcast on DStv’s Channel 82 from Monday to Friday from 08h00 until 17h30 and covers lessons in English, Science and Mathematics for Grades 10, 11 and 12. The programme includes a full magazine-styled print supplement which is available on a monthly basis in the Sunday Times newspaper and is available for downloading from the Mindset Learn website.

SAIDE was commissioned to evaluate the Mindset Learn programme between August 2004 and February 2005. The purpose of the evaluation was to document teachers’ perceptions of the value of Mindset Learn and the way that teachers were using the Mindset Learn resources in their schools.

Ephraim Mmekoa reports on issues emerging from the study.

How the evaluation was conducted
The evaluation made use of the case study approach. We selected ten schools from Kwa-Zulu Natal, Gauteng and the Free State with a primary selection criterion being that they are making some use of Mindset resources. At these schools we conducted general observations relating to school context and infrastructure focusing on Mindset equipment (TV and VCR) and where it was placed. We interviewed principals and teachers, and Mindset in their lessons. Where possible, we also observed lessons where teachers were making use of Mindset resources such as live broadcast lessons, recorded broadcast lessons, and lesson notes, for example.

Overview of findings
The ten Mindset Learn case study schools that were visited were found to be medium-resourced schools on a provincial level in terms of electrification, access to telecommunications and water, learner-teacher ratios and learner-classroom ratios, but above average with regards to access to computers for learning and teaching and the use of classrooms for other purposes, such as libraries, science laboratories or administration offices. All case study schools had been provided with a donated satellite dish, TV, VCR/DVD as well as free access to DStv channel 82.

Issues in teaching and learning
Most teachers had only been able to access Mindset broadcast lessons but not all the other resources such as lesson notes that had to be downloaded from the Internet. As a result the observations are more focused on responses to the broadcast elements

The following observations were made as a result of interviews with teachers:

Use of Mindset resources – Teachers made use of the resources for different purposes – for example personal development, demonstrating experiments, to cover areas that the teachers found difficult to teach or explain, to provide a variation of teaching methods, for remedial and revision work, and to keep learners occupied while the teacher was busy with other matters. Where teachers made use of the Mindset Learn materials, they were well-received by learners.

Textbooks – Teachers rated textbooks as being more important than the broadcasts because they were more easily accessible and in most cases were directly related to the syllabus.

Recorded lessons – Almost all participating teachers said they preferred using recorded lessons because they were able to control the pace of the lessons by, for example, pausing the cassette at to explain further, or to ask questions.

Role of the principal – In schools where there was evidence of use of Mindset resources by most teachers in the school, the principal had ensured that this happened.

Timetabling – None of the schools had developed their timetables to incorporate live broadcasts of Mindset lessons. This meant that teachers were forced to rely on recorded broadcasts.

Lack of clear recording arrangement – Despite the fact that teachers were heavily reliant on recorded broadcasts, most schools did not have adequate arrangements for ensuring that lessons were recorded or that equipment was available for recording purposes at the appropriate time.

Inability to access broadcast schedules – Mindset distributes broadcast schedules only through the Sunday Times or online. Some teachers therefore did not having access to the broadcast schedules, thus making it difficult to use the broadcast lessons as they did not know what topics were going to be covered.

Poor Internet connectivity – Only one of the ten schools visited had regular internet connectivity. This resulted in teachers being unable to access some of the Mindset resources.

Location of computers – There were problems of accessibility to the broadcast equipment as it was usually housed in the computer laboratory, which was heavily in demand.

Provision of adequate support and training – While most teachers reported that they had been provided with technical training, many had not received pedagogical training or training on how to integrate broadcast resources into their own lessons.

Lessons
Some of the lessons that need to be noted when planning or implementing a broadcast educational intervention are:

• Ensure that the key target group of the intervention has full knowledge of the programme’s intended objectives and the support it can provide.
• If the target group needs to access certain resources in order for the intervention to be successful, then it is imperative to ensure that those resources are easily accessible.
• It is important to identify training needs of the target group and to ensure that adequate support is provided for optimum benefit to be gained from the intervention.
• Ongoing monitoring is important so that problems can be identified or lessons learned so that improvements can be designed.