SMASSE PROJECT
Nancy Wambui Nui & Alice Nyacomba Wahome
SMASSE
Baseline Studies and Intervention Strategies
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What is SMASSE Project?

SMASSE is an acronym for Strengthening of Mathematics and Science inSecondary Education.
SMASSE Project is a joined venture between the Kenya government throughMoEST, and Government of Japan through JICA initially on pilot basis.
SMASSE Project is mainly involved in In-Service Training (INSET) of Serving
Teachers in Mathematics and Science in Secondary Schools in Kenya.
The System of operation is through the Cascade System.

Cascade System of Training

1.1

NationalTrainers

Trains District Trainers
from the whole country

District
Trainers

Trains Teachers in thewhole country

Teachers

Implements in theclassroom

Why SMASSE?

SMASSE came into being when the consistently poor performance in Mathematicsand Science (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) became a matter of serious concern.
Broad curricula, lack of facilities and inadequate staffing were always cited as themajor causes of the problem. Although dismal performance in these subjects hadalmost been accepted as the norm in some schools, the Ministry of Education
Science and Technology (MoEST) and other stakeholders felt there had to be anintervention, hence the Strengthening of Mathematics And Science in Secondary
Education (SMASSE) Project.
The SMASSE team conducted a baseline survey in the nine pilot districts (Kajiado,Gucha, Kakamega, Lugari, Butere-Mumias, Kisii, Murang’a, Maragua andMakueni) to determine the areas that needed intervention and come up with astrategic plan of operation. Interviews were conducted for Head teachers, teachers,students, parents and laboratory assistants. More data was collected byadministering questionnaires to teachers and students, lesson observation and video
recording of lessons for further observation.
From the results of the survey, it was evident that there were numerous problems
in mathematics and science education. Among these were those problems within
the scope of SMASSE Operations and others beyond the scope of the project.
Problems within the scope of SMASSE include:
1. Attitude Towards Science and Mathematics
a. Students’ Attitude:
Attitude was generally neutral/negative. This was attributed to low marks atadmission, belief that the subjects are difficult, peer influence, lack of facilities,
harsh teachers, teacher absenteeism and theoretical approach to teaching.
b. Teachers’ Attitude:
Attitude was generally neutral. They were reluctant to perform experiments,
especially in Chemistry which were deemed dangerous. In some cases
experiments failed. Most practical sessions were merely teacher demonstrations.
c. Head Teachers’ Attitude
The Head teachers’ neutral/negative attitude was reflected in their development
project priorities. Text books, laboratories and laboratory equipment rarely wereranked high.
d. Parents’ Attitude
Most were not interested in their children’s performance, least of all in
Mathematics and Science. Progress reports were not a matter of concern. Somewere ignorant, others felt paying fees was their only role. PTAs were eager toconstruct prestigious structures to be seen to be development conscious, at theexpense of basic teaching / learning resources.
2. Inappropriate teaching methodology
3. Content Mastery4. Inadequate Assignments
5. Few or no interactive fora for teachers
6. Infrequent professional guidance by subject quality assurance and standards
officers
7. Missing link between primary and secondary school levels
8. Lack of information about schools (the community)
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SMASSE Intervention

SMASSE Project, through In-Service Education and Training of serving teachersof Mathematics and Sciences, addresses the problems within its scope.
The INSET Curriculum was thus developed to upgrade / strengthen teacher
competence by addressing, through carefully selected topics, such areas of concern
as:• Attitude• Pedagogy /Teaching Methodology• Mastery of Content• Developing teaching / learning materials• Administration and Managementa. Attitude:
SMASSE targeted teachers first because of the time they spend with students. The
attitude of the teacher, (teacher centred ness, inability to carry out experiments anddemonstrations successfully, low frequency of experiments, chalk and talk, being
content driven and knowledge based) impacts negatively on students. Negative
attitude among students is manifested in untidy/incomplete homework, frequent
absenteeism/feigned illness, lack of attention in class, poor performance and low
enrolment in optional science subjects, especially physics.
b. Pedagogy:
Teacher training curricular do not adequately address issues pertinent to secondary
school teaching. The theories in the curricula are often outdated and not applicablein the classroom.
c. Methodology:
Most teachers are content/syllabus driven; thinking that covering the syllabus is thesame as effective teaching. Lecture becomes the method of choice even in science
subjects because it allows coverage of ground in terms of content, although very
little, if anything is achieved in terms of learning.
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d. Mastery of content
In our classrooms we have the following categories of teachers;
1) Teachers who have good content mastery. The following is portrayed in theirteaching;• take time to plan,• think about the delivery process with their students in mind
• are sequential in their teaching and• Most often student focused /centred.
2) Teachers who ‘lack’ the time and their teaching portrays that they ;• do not take time to plan
• do not think about the delivery process• are not sequential in their teaching• are out of touch with the syllabus• aren’t student focused/centred and in many cases confuse students
3) The third category is of those who lack content mastery. They ;• cannot explain concepts satisfactorily• often misleading students unknowingly
SMASSE has all these factors in mind while preparing for INSETS.
During INSET teachers are equipped with the necessary skills to develop
teaching/learning (training) materials, use limited resources efficiently andeffectively and utilise materials in their environment, Work planning e.t.c for
effective teaching and learning of Mathematics and Sciences.
1.3 Good Practices for Effective Classroom Practices
1. ASEI /PDSI Paradigm Shift
The SMASSE Team came up with the Activity, Student, Experiment, andImprovisation (ASEI) movement to upgrade the various aspects of teaching andlearning. There are four basic principles inherent in this, which guide SMASSEINSET activities aimed at a shift as follows:A shift

FROMTOPre –ASEI(Before INSET)

ASEI-Condition(After INSET)

Knowledge/Content –based approach

Activity-focused
Teaching/Learning

Teacher – centredteachingStudent-focused /Centred Learning

Theoretical or Lecture
method (Chalk andtalk/talk and talk)Experiment /Research based
approachFew, teacher
demonstrations

Small scale andimprovisation

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PDSI Approach:To achieve the ASEI condition, SMASSE came up with the Plan, Do, See andImprove (PDSI) approach to teaching and learning.
• PlanApart from schemes of work and lesson plans, the teacher carefully plans and tries
out the Teaching / Learning activities, materials and examples before the lesson.
Emphasis is on how instructional activities will enable learners to:¾ Understand individual concepts and connections among them
¾ Get the rationale/value for the lesson¾ Retain the learning and apply it in real life situations¾ Get rid of learning difficulties and misconceptions¾ Have more interest in the lessons• DoThe teacher carries out the planned lesson / activity as planned
Teachers are encouraged to;¾ Be innovative in lesson presentation.
¾ Present lessons in varied interesting ways to arouse learners’ interest e.g.
through role play, story telling¾ Ensure active learner participation¾ Be a facilitate the teaching/learning¾ deal with students’ questions and misconceptions¾ Reinforce learning at each step
During INSETS, Teachers carry out peer teaching on the ASEI lessons and later
actualize in schools.
• See ( Lesson study )The teacher evaluates the teaching and learning process during and after lesson,using various techniques and feed back from students. Teachers also allow theircolleagues to observe their lessons and offer feed back.
• Enables teachers to;
9 see the good practices in the lesson and strengthen them
9 see mistakes made in earlier lesson

9 Avoid earlier mistakes in future lessons• In the process teachers become more open to evaluation by;¾ fellow teachers¾ school administrators¾ Quality and standards assurance officers¾ Students• Improve
Reflect on the performance, evaluation report and effectiveness in achieving thelesson objectives.
These Enables the teacher to;
9 see the good practices in the lesson and strengthen them
9 see mistakes made in earlier lesson
9 Avoid earlier mistakes in future lessons
The teacher makes use of such information in planning the next lesson to enhance
performance and student learning.
2. Climbing learning approach
Other than ASEI and PDSI approach SMASSE has borrowed other importantpractices in the classroom like the Climbing Learning Approach
Climbing Learning approach was developed by Professor Noboru Saito of Naruto
University of Education, Japan, Mathematics department. This method utilizes aconcept map, table of the reason for arrow lines and the research card during thelesson instruction. Students are supposed to fill in the space of the concept-map theexplanation of the learning elements, the formula, the examples and self madeproblems and answers. In the process the teacher makes the students understandthe content and meaning of each learning element tightly. Thereby having thestudent extend the existing knowledge and reconstruct it. The other teachinglearning tools in this method is the Table of the reason for arrow lines, where thestudents write the reason for arrows in the concept map. This activity is to enhance
the students’ understanding of interrelation of learning elements
The 3rd tool is the research card where the students write any questionable issues.
These are how, why and what issues.

63. Open-ended approach
1.4 Why they are good practices
Through these approaches, SMASSE Project has had a positive impact on skills,
knowledge and attitudes in the teaching and learning of mathematics and science.
There has been significant improvement in performance in these subjects, in thedistricts where SMASSE has been in operation during the project period. Thegraph below shows some of those results in Kenya;

Other than focusing on Kenya, SMASSE focuses on the African region through
SMASSE-Western, Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (WECSA) as a regional
association of mathematics and science educators. It was started in 2001 for thepurpose of strengthening the quality of teaching and learning of mathematics andscience in member countries. Member countries have adopted SMASSE’s ASEI
movement and PDSI approach as a way of improving classroom practice.
As a follow-up, SMASSE Kenya personnel conducted Monitoring and Evaluationof application and impact of the principles of ASEI movement and PDSI approach,in the classroom in Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda and Zimbabwe
They also administered lesson Quality of Participation questionnaire to thestudents in the classes they observed lessons to assess the quality of learning bySMASSE trained and non-SMASSE trained teachers. The results were as follows:Quality of Learning in Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda and Zimbabwe
Extent of student Participation in Lesson (N=41) -May 20054

SMASSENON- SMASSE

Level of participation

32

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2.42.1

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OVERALL MEAN

PROCESS SKILLSASPECT

AFFECTIVE ASPECTCOMMUNICATION SKILLSSMASSE Project Impact Assessment Survey Results
September 2004, SMASSE Project undertook a nationwide survey to assess theimpact of INSET. The aim was to find out how SMASSE activities are practiced in
the classroom and how they translate in achievement. It was conducted in form twoclasses of selected schools, teachers taking the classes in mathematics and science
subjects, and Principals of the schools.
The students had two sets of questionnaires; one dealing with their learning ofmathematics in general, their attitudes toward the subjects and their participation inclass during learning.
The following were observations on the teachers and the learners after being
exposed to the INSET
Net impact on Teachers;
 Plan better and more consistently Attend students’ needs more
 Teachers are more open to team work
 More confident to carry out practical activities and experiments previously
thought to be difficult or dangerous
 Try out new methods
 Face the challenge arising from lack of resources better Face the challenge of large classes better
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Net impact on Students;
 Are actively involved Show great interest and responsiveness Attend lessons more punctually and regularly Do their assignments more neatly and promptly
 Carry discussions beyond class time Ask questions in and out of class Students’ interest and curiosity is aroused and sustained as they relate
mathematics to their real life experiences Encourages teamwork but allow individual participation for the students.
 Provide students with opportunities to develop key competencies such asproblem-solving, analysis, synthesis and application of relevant information
 Demystify math because by relating it to students’ real life experiences Their attitude gradually becomes positive
Reforms expected;
The kind of reforms expected out these practices are like some of the positive
impacts already mentioned as noted in the teachers and learners. We also expect
that;• Attitude will be positive for teachers and students• Teachers will practice more effective Teaching Methodologies• Teachers will have a better Mastery of Content• Teachers will Develop effective teaching / learning materials• There will be better Administration and Management in schools
In essence, the students should become active in the learning process while theteacher carefully guides the process and there will be more meaningful learning
activities in the Mathematics classrooms.

References:
Njuguna B.M., (1999) The findings from baseline studies by SMASSE Project SMASSE
Project Bulletin, unpublished
Noboru Saito,Boo Yoon Kim, (1998)Comparison of Japan-Korean MathematicalAchievement Using the Climbing-Learning Method Proceedings of ICMI-EARCOME
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