Abstract:
Assessment, as an integral part of teaching and learning, gained unprecedented prominence in the
curriculum in South Africa post 1994. When the new curriculum was introduced, it was assumed that
teachers would effortlessly adapt their teaching and assessment practices, and swiftly implement the
curriculum. Fourteen years after the inception of the new curriculum, majority of teachers are still
grappling with issues of assessment. Previously, there was an exclusive bias towards summative
assessment, which is mainly learning product–orientated and less or no focus on the other assessment
typologies such as diagnostic and formative assessment, which are learning process–orientated. Of
these typologies, diagnostic assessment is not being used maximally to enhance mathematics learning
and inform the nature of the interventions to attend to learners’ needs. The study focused on diagnostic
assessment by investigating the impact of a particular model, GIST model, on the learning barriers and
learner achievement in mathematics among the grade 9 learners. The investigation of the impact of the
GIST model was done through the experimental design in four schools with class sizes of d > 40.
Data were collected quantitatively through Study Orientation Questionnaire (SOM) and Mathematics
Achievement Test (MAT) as well as qualitatively through interviews, observations and document
analysis. The t–test and the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed that the GIST model improved
the learner achievement practically significantly (d = 0.79). However, the GIST model could not
mitigate the learning barriers and improve correlations between SOM and MAT. The study, however,
does find grounds to conclude that the latter findings can be attributed to teachers’ lacking
understanding and implementation of diagnostic assessment, in particular the GIST components.
Hence, certain recommendations are posed with regard to the applicable training of teachers in order to
empower them to effectively utilize diagnostic assessment and to guide learners in overcoming learning
barriers in mathematics.
