1 Introduction

Mathematics, science, and technology are seen as key pillars of the economic development of countries. Education in numerous countries continues to increase as appeals for a skilled workforce to meet economic challenges [18]. Thus, equipping people with knowledge and understanding of mathematics concepts, science, and technology has therefore become a core goal of educational programs across many countries worldwide. Therefore, to achieve this goal, teachers should be more competent than before as drivers of educational systems. In this sense, teachers are expected to have a wide range of knowledge, including Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). Indeed, the teachers’ PCK was ascertained to affect students’ performance and interest in particular subjects directly [4, 15, 17]. However, previous studies reported that Mathematics and sciences are difficult subjects Langoban [19]; Ukobizaba et al. [34], and most teachers do not have enough competence in delivering those subjects [20].

Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is the continuous process of learning, improving, and enhancing knowledge, skills, and competencies throughout one's career. It involves various activities like training workshops, courses, seminars, self-directed learning, mentoring, and reflective practice, aiming to adapt to changing trends and technologies. Knowing that Continuous Professional Development programs have the potential to improve teachers’ awareness of STEM subjects, different research initiatives worldwide took place to improve teachers’ content knowledge in STEM subjects and therefore boost [18]. However, more efforts were put into teachers (pre and in-service) in secondary schools with little consideration of teachers’ STEM awareness in primary schools [36]. Particularly in Rwanda is implementing a new curriculum based on competence (Competence—Curriculum) as one of the initiatives to nurture STEM awareness. In this curriculum, different new concepts have been integrated. This appeals to teachers to have sufficient knowledge and ability to deliver its content effectively.

In the context of Rwandan education, primary education is divided into levels that are lower primary and upper primary. In an international setting, grades 1, 2, and 3 are considered lower primary, whereas grades 4, 5, and 6 are considered upper primary. According to the subject taught in primary education, all levels have five main subjects that are Mathematics, SET, Social Science Studies, Kinyarwanda, and English. Our study aimed to assess the impact of the training offered by the RQBEHCD project on teachers’ content knowledge in Mathematics and SET in upper primary schools in Rwanda. The study also investigated gender differences in the performance of teachers after being trained. Based on the strong commitment by Rwanda to promote gender equality in education, the project also fostered gender equity by ensuring that both women and men participate in the customized training program. The present study significantly contributes by adding to the literature the level of learning gained and teachers’ content knowledge resulting from training initiatives for primary teachers.

2 Statement of the problem

The Rwanda education system has undergone significant changes, and there is a recognized need for enhancing the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of teachers to meet the evolving demands of the curriculum. Different research conducted in Rwanda showed that primary teachers in mathematics and SET still had difficulties conceptual understanding some topics of CBC. For instance, the research conducted by Maniraho and Christiansen [20] showed that the performance of mathematics and science teachers in Rwandan primary schools is low insufficient competencies due to limited content knowledge. Similarly, in their study, Dushimimana and Uworwabayeho (2020) showed that primary teachers have a misconception about statistics and probability topics in mathematics subject.

To improve the quality of education, the study intends to address important questions like how CPD training affects teachers' PCK in mathematics and science by emphasizing the challenges encountered by them when attempting to apply newly acquired knowledge in the classroom. To address this, Rwanda started CPD programs to raise the standard of STEM instruction in primary schools. With the help of the World Bank, Rwanda launched the Rwanda Quality Basic Education for Human Capital Development Project (RQBEHCD), which has three main goals: enhancing learning, enhancing student retention, and enhancing instructors' proficiency in science and mathematics. Through a tailored training program, the project’s sub-component 1.2 specifically aims to modernize teaching resources and improve the knowledge and pedagogical practice of mathematics and science teachers in upper elementary.

The RQBEHCD project envisioned training for both mathematics and SET upper primary teachers seeking to improve their subject content knowledge. In this line, two modules were prepared for the training. The first module was on e-learning and ICT in education, while the second was on innovative teaching methods. This module comprised three parts: pedagogy, content matter, and laboratory activities. In close collaboration, the University of Rwanda College of Education staff and Rwanda Basic Education Board trained mathematics and SET teachers on e-learning and integration of ICT tools, where teachers were mainly trained on the use of scripted lessons. Teachers were allowed to access and navigate scripted lessons developed by the University of Rwanda College of Education lecturers respective to the subject they teach. It should be noted that those scripted lessons were first tested with success in 30 pilot schools. Teachers were also exposed to open e-resources and software such as PhET simulations and GeoGebra used in teaching SET and mathematics subjects.

Training on the second module involved three phases, as aforementioned. During the pedagogy training, teachers were trained about using the 5Es instructional model, which was also used during the development of scripted lessons. The project also focused on training Mathematics and SET content with more emphasis on the content that has been identified as difficult and in which teachers lack some conceptual understanding. In Mathematics, the training focused on 14 units classified into six topic areas that are numbers and operation, fraction decimal, and proportional reasoning, metric measurement, algebra, geometry, statistics, and element of probability while in SET, teachers were trained on 24 units (five were related to biology, six were related to chemistry, nine were related to physics, and four were related to ICT).

Additionally, teachers received intensive hands-on training for lab experiments related to those units. Through the training and workshops, teachers were able to participate in the curriculum’s inquiry-based labs just like students. Teachers got also the chance to increase their knowledge of science material by participating in the labs as learners. The project also emphasized using scripted lessons developed by the staff from the University of Rwanda, College of Education in alignment with the Rwandan CBC framework and prepared using open-source digital resources. The project designed scripted lesson plans because the research showed that teachers are unable to develop, follow, and lack explicit knowledge input in their lesson plans [30]. In the context of Rwanda, the research conducted by Ndihokubwayo et al. [23] discovered that Rwandan physics teachers do not create lesson plans following the recently implemented competency-based curriculum, and ineffective inquiry techniques are used by teachers throughout the various stages of lesson activities, and they plan for low levels of Bloom's cognitive and affective taxonomy domains. This was also supported by Ndihokubwayo et al. [22] who found that the lack of tools to analyze pedagogical documents like lesson plans that reflect on competency-based pedagogy served as the driving force behind the study's design. Those scripted lessons compensate for teachers’ generally weak background in mathematics and science, reduce the burden of lesson preparation, and improve the quality of content presented to students. The developed scripted lesson plans offer content, inquiries, tasks, and methods of evaluation. They are created as a useful tool to give teachers access to knowledge resources directly, as well as to provide systematic, paced, and simple-to-follow lessons [11].

3 Literature review

Research has shown that effective CPD enhances teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) in these critical subjects. The results conducted by Samsudin [29] affirmed that CPD training improved teachers’ performance with spatial skills in Mathematics. This was also supported by Sodan [32] who found that CPD training initiatives have undoubtedly improved the performance of teachers in mathematics and science. In addition, Hammond et al. [8] demonstrated that CPD training had positive effects on teachers' knowledge and skills. Rodrigues et al. [28] highlighted that the CPD program enhances primary teachers’ competencies in science, and elementary technology and has significant implications for their classroom instruction and student learning outcomes. In this context, when teachers are engaged in high-quality CPD programs, they have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of subject-specific content and stay updated with the latest developments in their field [12].

While the literature underscores the effectiveness of the CPD program, it is essential to explore other factors that might have contributed to this improvement. Looking at the factors that make this improvement, the research found that the duration and intensity of the CPD program might play a role in the observed outcomes [1]. In this context, longer and more intensive training sessions might lead to better retention and application of knowledge and contribute to a significant improvement in test scores. In addition, Alemayehu [2] indicated that the use of varied teaching approaches in CPD training, the experience of trainers, and regular attendance of trainees might be other factors in increasing teachers’ content knowledge. Therefore, a well-designed CPD program that emphasizes effective teaching strategies, training sessions, and practical works in specific content enhances a teacher's content knowledge in their subject area.

In the specific context of mathematics education, [3] highlighted the significance of teacher content knowledge and how it interacts with pedagogical knowledge. Understanding the interplay between subject matter expertise and effective teaching methods is essential when assessing the impact of CPD training on teachers' PCK in mathematics [25]. This was also supported by Desimone [9] who illustrated that CPD programs provide opportunities for teachers to deepen their understanding of mathematical and science concepts and improve their instructional practices. The study conducted by Ertmer and Ottenbreit-Leftwich [10] has shown that CPD initiatives equip teachers with the necessary skills to incorporate technology effectively into their teaching practices. This indicates that CPD programs address not only technological skills but also the integration of technology into teaching practices. The collaborative professional learning experiences between teachers during CPD engage them with new content and teaching strategies, ultimately impacting their PCK in science [38]. Therefore, CPD program influence positively teachers' PCK in mathematics and science.

While the literature provides valuable insights into the general principles of effective CPD for teachers, there is a gap in understanding how these principles apply specifically to the Rwandan context. Therefore, the proposed study on the effectiveness of CPD training on upper primary mathematics, science, and elementary technology teachers' PCK in Rwanda aims to contribute to this knowledge gap by offering context-specific insights and recommendations for improving teacher development programs in the country. Thus, the study answered two research questions of the study.

  1. 1.

    What is the impact of CPD training on upper primary teachers’ content knowledge in mathematics and SET subjects?

  2. 2.

    Is there a significant difference between male and female teachers’ performance after CPD training in Mathematics and SET subjects?

4 Research method

4.1 Research design

This study used an explanatory sequential research design to collect and analyze data. This design involves collecting and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data [7]. In this context, quantitative data were collected through achievement tests (mathematics and SET). In this line, an achievement exam was administered before and after CPD training. It means that the pre-and post-testing method was utilized to check performance change before and after training. Additionally, after the post-test, a phase of collecting qualitative data started where a sample of 20 teachers selected in all subjects (10 per each subject) was given a semi-structured interview to get their views on PCK gained through CPD training and other skills gained and challenges they met throughout CPD training. In this study, the explanatory sequential research design was powerful in explaining and gaining a more thorough understanding of complex phenomena and producing insights that are not possible using one method itself.

4.2 Population and sample

The target population in this study consisted of Mathematics and SET teachers from upper primary schools in ten districts of Rwanda. Those districts were the ones covered by the RQBEHCD project. The selected schools were sampled purposively because they are public schools and have electricity. The project informed the head teachers to provide a list of four active (teachers who can train his/her colleagues in return). The project randomly selected two among four proposed teachers from each school to attend the first cohort of training. The target population for the first cohort was 520 teachers; however, only a sample of quantitative data composed of 290 teachers was used in the present study and comprised the teachers who sat for the pre-test and post-test. In Mathematics, the sample was 151, where male and female teachers were 89 and 62, respectively. In the SET subject, the sample was 139, with 77 male and 62 female teachers. On the other hand, the qualitative data from the interview were collected from 20 participants including 12 male and 8 female teachers selected randomly.

4.3 Research instrument and validation

4.3.1 Achievement test

The present study used two instruments that are an achievement test and a semi-structured interview. For the achievement test, the instrument, there was section A of the introduction clarifying the purpose of the study and giving instructions to the respondent. Section B comprised questions about general information from the respondents such as gender, teaching subject, Name of the school, etc. Regarding the questions about the content, some of the test items for those instruments were adopted from standardized tests based on the Rwandan competence-based curriculum https://njctl.org/online-learning/teachers/ and other items were adapted to be well aligned with the curriculum assessment principles and to meet the level of primary teachers. However, other item questions were developed by RQBEHCD project staff in collaboration with UR-CE lectures to ensure that the instruments cover all the content planned in the training manuals.

The initial mathematics instrument consisted of 50 multiple-choice question items, while the SET instrument consisted of 56. Both instruments were subjected to a validation phase. The validation workshop was held at the University of Rwanda Single Project Implementation Unit (UR-SPIU) office in Kigali from March 2021 to April 2021. The instrument validation involved Ph.D. students from the African Centre of Excellence for Innovative Teaching and Learning Science and Mathematics (ACEITLMS) and experts in Mathematics and Science Education from REB. The Ph.D. students were appropriate for validation as they are involved in Mathematics and Science education research at the University of Rwanda, College of Education. Test items were provided in each subject, and validators were asked to check the content of the test and link it to the curriculum program in those subjects [26, 27]. Thus, they checked the relevance of the question in the Rwandan curriculum.

Eventually, the validation process yielded a Mathematics test of 43 question items and a SET test of 52. This means that seven questions were removed from the Mathematics test, and four questions were removed from the SET test. Those questions were said to be not relevant to assessing the content knowledge of the teachers. For instance, it was found that in mathematics, three questions were too easy, and one question was extremely difficult. Afterward, the tests were digitalized using a Kobo toolbox because they had to be done online. The digitalized tests were also reviewed and validated by experts in the Kobo toolbox from the World Bank Group and UR-CE before being administered to teachers in the pre and post-test.

4.3.2 Semi-structured interview

The study utilized semi-structured interviews to gather data on teachers’ engagement and self-efficacy in Mathematics and science. This interview focused on understanding participants' thoughts, behaviors, and influences on engagement and disengagement of CPD training in mathematics and science. The research also explored the role of continuous professional development programs and tasks in influencing engagement levels and self-efficacy in teaching Mathematics and Science. The qualitative data involved 20 including 12 male and 8 female teachers selected from all subjects (mathematics and SET). A detailed protocol was used to ensure comparability and explore teachers' perspectives. Participants' answers guided the direction during individual interviews. Interviewers completed mock interviews before conducting interviews.

4.4 Data collection and analysis

The data collection process involved two phases, first phase analyzed quantitative data (pre-test, and post-test) while the second phase analyzed qualitative data. Rwanda Education Board invited selected teachers through their head teachers to sit for the pre-tests before training and post-test after the training. Both tests were done online through the Kobo toolbox. Before any step of data analysis, data from the Kobo toolbox were transferred into an MS Excel 2016 sheet. The first utmost work was to organize and filter data by corresponding each teacher’s response in the pre-test with his/her response in the post-test. The “EXACT” function was utilized to count the number of correct and wrong answers each participant got by assigning a “1” score to the correct answer and a “0” score to the wrong answer in both pre and post-test. The wrong answer is when the participant chose the incorrect answer, skipped the question, or answered more than one answer. Gender variable was also considered during the analysis.

Descriptive and inferential statistics were used with the aid of Excel and SPSS v. 25, respectively. We checked parametric test assumptions (continuous data, sample of > 30, normal distribution, and equality of variances) before undergoing an analysis of variances. The data were scores from pre-and post-test, the sample was above 30 participants, Kolmogorov–Smirnov test for normality, and Levene’s test for equality of variances to confirm the assumptions (p > 0.05). The Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, the p-value obtained from the Kolmogorov test was greater than 0.05 which indicates that the user data was normally distributed. Additionally, Levene’s test indicated that male and female teachers were approximately at the same level as the p-value was greater than 0.05. Hence, we adopted to use of repeated measures ANOVA. We, therefore, used repeated measure Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) parametric test because there were two independent variables (male and female teachers) and one dependent repeated variable (pre-and post-test). For inferential statistics, Wilks Lambda was considered as no assumptions were violated.

During the analysis, questions in both Mathematics and SET were arranged in their corresponding topic areas to ease the identification of topics where teachers still have difficulties. In mathematics, questions were arranged into six topic areas found in the upper primary mathematics syllabus, namely: Numbers and operations; Fractions, decimals, and proportional reasoning; Metric measurement; Algebra; Geometry; Statistics, and Elementary probability. While in SET, the test items were into four categories, namely, chemistry, biology, physics, and ICT-related questions. The tests were expected to measure conceptual understanding of various concepts in Mathematics and SET for upper primary schools in Rwanda.

On the other hand, qualitative data were analyzed by interpretive and thematic analysis. After the interviews transcription was done by all interviewers supported by other two research peers, the interviewers held a short meeting to define codes and elaborate coding framework for engagement, disengagement, external influences, and internal influences. After coding, the research team divided transcripts among three members for a holistic review. They created themes across contextual (Pedagogical support, school leaders, and peer support) and motivational factors (Competence, challenge, value, and interest) for each transcript, and exchanged summaries to verify conclusions.

4.5 Ethical consideration

The researchers obtained an approval letter from the ethical committee of the University of Rwanda, College of Education, Ministry of Education, Rwanda Basic Education Board, and Districts Education Officers (DEOs) of the schools under the study. The study's aim and purpose of the study were also explained to the participants. Every participant voluntarily signed the consent form indicating their agreement to take part in the study. In addition, the principles of confidentiality and anonymity for the data collected were also upheld.

5 Results

5.1 Quantitative results

This section describes Mathematics and SET teachers’ performance in the pre-and post-test. The results are presented in the tables and figures. The interpretation of results is presented separately, subject to subject.

5.2 Descriptive and inferential analysis of pre-and post-test scores in mathematics subject

Table 1 below shows descriptive statistics of pre-and post-test in mathematics subjects. The results showed that the overall mean score in Mathematics increased by 14.14%, from 62.60% in the pre-test to 76.74% in the post-test. The mean score of female teachers increased by 14.65% from 61% in the pre-test to 75.65% in the post-test. Also, the mean score of male teachers increased by 13.77% shifting from 63.73% in the pre-test to 77.50% in the post-test.

Table 1 Descriptive Statistics of pre-and post-test in Mathematics
Full size table

To prove if there is a statistically significant difference in the mean scores between pre and post-test, males, and females in mathematics tests, inferential analysis was computed. The results revealed a very high statistically significant difference in the mean score of pre and post-test (p < 0.001, η = 0.450) with a learning gain of 0.37. However, the results showed no statistically significant difference in the mean score of male and female teachers (p > 0.05, η = 0.001). See Table 2

Table 2 Inferential statistics of pre and post-test in mathematics subject
Full size table

5.3 Descriptive and inferential analysis of pre-and post-test scores in SET subject

The descriptive analysis of the SET subject showed that the overall performance of teachers increased by 10.11%, from 51.67% to 61.78%. It was also found that the mean score of females increased by 7.53% in the post-test from 52.30% to 60.83%, while the males increased by 11.62% in the post-test from 51.12% to 62.74% (see Table 3).

Table 3 Descriptive Statistics of pre and post-test in SET
Full size table

The results in the table summarize the inferential analysis of the SET subject test. The results revealed that p < 0.001), which means that there is a very high statistically significant difference in the mean performance of teachers between the pre and post-test with medium effect size (η = 0.432) in favor of the post-test. However, the results showed no statistically significant difference in the mean score of male and female teachers (p > 0.05, η = 0.018) with a learning gain of 0.20. See Table 4.

Table 4 Inferential analysis of pre and post-test in SET subject
Full size table

5.4 Mathematics and SET teacher’s lack of conceptual understanding in both pre-and post-test

In Mathematics the questions were classified into the following topics areas: Six questions (Q1, Q2, Q19, Q21, Q22 & Q35) were numbers and Operations related questions. Eleven questions (Q4, Q5, Q17, Q20, Q23, Q25, Q37, Q38, Q39, Q40 & Q44); were Fractions, Decimals and Proportional Reasoning related questions. Twelve questions (Q6, Q7, Q9, Q10, Q11, Q28, Q32, Q41, Q45, Q47, Q48, and Q50) were Metric Measurement related questions. Six questions (Q12, Q13, Q14, Q24, Q36 & Q46) were Algebra related questions, five questions (Q15, Q16, Q27, Q42 & Q43) were Geometry related questions, and three questions (Q31, Q33, and Q49) were Statistics and Elementary Probability. Some of the abbreviations were used to make the figure more visible. “Nbrs&opertn” stands for Numbers & operation, Fractn, Decm&ProptnlReasng stands for Fractions, Decimals & Proportional Reasoning, and and Statcs& Elem Prob stands for Statistics and Elementary Probability. On the other hand, in the SET subject, 17 questions (Q1-Q17) were biology-related, 13 (Q18-Q30) were physics-related, 14 (Q31-Q44) were chemistry-related, and eight questions (Q45-Q52) were ICT- related questions.

Figures 1 and 2 below shows teachers’ performance in mathematics and SET subjects, respectively, per topic. Generally, teachers performed better in the post-test. The teachers'' lack of conceptual understanding was reported because those questions were performed below 50% in both pre-and post-test. In this regard, the remarkable lack of conceptual understanding in mathematics revealed that teachers failed Q9 and Q25 of metric measurement and Fractions, Decimals, and Proportional Reasoning related questions below 25%. They also demonstrated a very high decrease in their average scores on Q41, Q45, and Q49 from 95 to 41%, 76% to 13%, and 83% to 39% in metric measurement, Statistics, and Elementary Probability, respectively. On the other side, in SET subject teachers demonstrated a lack of conceptual understanding on 15 questions that are five in Biology (Q2, Q4, Q8, Q14, and Q15), two in physics (Q24, and 30), five in chemistry (Q34, Q35, Q38, Q42, and Q44), and three in ICT( Q49, Q50, and Q52). See Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Teacher performance in Mathematics per topic area in both pre-and post-test

Full size image
Fig. 2
figure 2

Teacher’s performance in the SET topic area in both pre-and post-test

Full size image

6 Qualitative results

This section report qualitative results on the effectiveness of CPD training on Mathematics and Science pedagogical skills in teaching Mathematics and SET. Thematic analysis was used to uncover meaningful patterns, themes, and insights of teachers engagement in Mathematics and Science. This method provided a comprehensive understanding of participants' thoughts, emotions, and viewpoints, shedding light on underlying factors, and narratives. The results were classified into two themes.

6.1 Theme 1:CPD training enhance teachers’ pedagogical competence in mathematics and science

Mathematics and SET teachers found CPD training improved their pedagogical skills in teaching Mathematics and Science, with 100% of them agreeing. Teachers reported that before CPD training, they faced frustration due to lack of trust in their pedagogical skills, but after CPD training, all teachers agreed that it improved their pedagogical skills. The major skills highlighted by mathematics and SET teachers are: CPD training enhance instructional strategies, integrating subject knowledge and ICT, and promoting student-centered approaches. They also suggested that CPD opportunities encourage innovative methodologies and technology integration, creating dynamic learning environments. Some teachers’ quotes are:

Teacher A said, said, “Before being trained in CPD, I had challenges particularly in integrating ICT tools in teaching SET, but after being trained, I have acquired knowledge on how to use animations, simulations, plickers and chemsketch as well as other ICT tools used in teaching and learning process.

Teacher D said, “As a new teacher, I am thankful to this CPD training because it empowered me to be familiar with the content to teach. Before training, I faced some challenges in teaching topics like probability. But by sharing experience with my colleagues and being trained I got some skills for teaching this concept effectively.”

Teacher K said, Usually Mathematics is about abstract concepts. It has complicated topics. But during the training, we did many experiments like proving the value of constant pi, Pythagoras theorem, and to prove the area of a circle.”

Teacher E said, “Through this training, I've been sharpened about my professional abilities in teaching. I am particularly delighted to have learnt how to use ICT tools and e-resources like scripted lessons in teaching Mathematics. I am able to integrate 5E’s (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate) in my lessons thanks to the CPD program.”

Another mathematics teacher said that before training, he did not know how to prove Pythagoras’s theorem but after training, he understands how to prove it. He also said that the training was important to him since he can now answer to students’ questions related to proving some formulas or mathematical concepts. For, the training helped him to concretize the lesson of mathematics.

6.2 Theme 2: CPD training increase teachers’ participation and engagement in mathematics and science

The results showed CPD training positively impacts teachers' participation and engagement in mathematics and SET by promoting continuous improvement and professional growth. Teachers reported that through CPD training they gained knowledge on innovative teaching methods, content updates, and effective classroom strategies which have positive impact in their profession as it increases confidence and enthusiasm for creative approaches. This enhanced engagement enriches teaching practices and elevates the overall quality of mathematics and SET. Foristance one SET teacher noted that SET subject is not only theory, concepts, laws, and formulas. It is also experimental science. Conducting laboratory activities during CPD strongly influence both teachers’ and students' critical thinking during their inquiry activities, where by their laboratory activities are more motivated to think more deeply about the meaning of their teaching and learning concepts Some teacher’s quotes in themes are:

Teacher M said, “Many of our lessons were theoretical. Learners were passive because most of the lessons were abstract and difficult to learn, but also difficult for me as a teacher to teach. I've now gained knowledge and skills to handle those difficulties”.

Teacher N said, “It was difficult for me to explain, for example, the relationship between Voltage (V) and electric current (I) and how to read on the ammeter”.

Teacher P said, “I have acquired much more skills about teaching practices. The training was very important in my teaching process because I learnt different methods of teaching like improvisation.”

Teacher F said, “The training was very helpful, especially in my subject. There were for example some laboratory experiments that I used to skip due to the lack of skills for handling some apparatus, proper use of chemicals in terms of measurement, and so on.” Before attending this training, she added, I faced difficulties in engaging my students because I used the lecturing method which makes students bored.

Trained teachers acknowledge the importance of training in improving their teaching practice and addressing misconceptions about Mathematics and SET. In addition, As reported by most teachers, CPD training provided them with abilities to organize and deliver practical works on topics which were relatively challenging to teach.

7 Discussion

This study aimed to identify the impact of teachers’ training on their performance and conceptual understanding in Mathematics and SET subjects. The discussion of this study focuses on the effectiveness of the training on teachers’ performance, and their conceptual understanding.

7.1 Contribution of CPD training in teachers pedagogical skills

According to the findings of this study, the CPD program had a beneficial effect on teachers' engagement, their content understanding and self-efficacy in teaching Mathematics and Science. For instance, teachers in this study revealed that from a very long time ago, they were fearing Mathematics and Science subjects. Some teachers avowed that studying and teaching were not their first choice, that they found themselves in those careers, they said that their fear were rooted from secondary schools where their peer male students where most participative than them. More specifically, the interviewed female teachers in physics showed that in general it was not easy to study physics and it is challenging to teach it while you are female as many people to not trust you. However, the interviewed teachers showed that after training, they gained a lot of skills and improved content knowledge about some difficult concepts.

According to Teig et al. [33] found a reciprocal relationship between female teachers' self-efficacy and instructional practices in Mathematics and Science classrooms. In this line, teachers with self-efficacy beliefs adopt student-centered approaches, encourage active participation, and adapt strategies to diverse learning styles, positively influencing achievements in Mathematics and Science. Our CPD programs nurtured female teachers’ self-efficacy by creating inclusive learning environments, and promoting a more balanced representation of women in Mathematics and Science. This was supported by Christoforidou and Kyriakides [5] found that CPD training significantly impacts female teachers' engagement in Mathematics and Science in terms of subject knowledge, networking, and collaboration, empowering female educators to overcome challenges and sustain engagement. Hence, CPD programs foster research-based practices and a supportive learning environment, improving STEM learning quality for students.

7.2 Mathematics and SET teacher’s performance and their conceptual understanding

The findings of this study indicated a positive impact of training on mathematic teachers’ performance and content knowledge. This means that after being trained on the content through comprehensive laboratory activities and by using ICT tools like scripted lessons, the teachers improved their content knowledge as the results indicated. The study’s results indicated a very highly statistically significant difference in the mean score of pre-and post-tests (after training). The findings of this study are following previous research findings. For instance, in their study, Jiménez et al. [16] found that the content taught by the use of scripted lessons in combination with guided notes becomes comprehensible to the teachers which leads to an increase in their performance. However, once used alone, scripted lessons have been criticized to hinder teaching and learning as there are difficult to use. According to Mwandia and Mwanza, [21] have shown that scripted lessons take away teachers’ creativity and are only helpful for newly employed teachers. Shalem et al. [30] have oppositely discussed scripted lessons showing that some critics of them are just the said myths. To this end, they avowed that scripted lessons are also effective for experienced teachers.

To improve their performance and content knowledge, teachers in the present study have been trained through the use of scripted lessons which were effectively prepared in interactive and engaging ways. Besides, a series of laboratory activities were carried out to concretize some learned concepts. To cater to teachers’ creativity when using scripted lessons, the project has prepared them in a way that allows teachers to be innovative and that promotes the inquiry mode of teaching and learning to foster high order of thinking. Therefore, trained mathematics teachers both males and females have improved their performance almost similarly after the training. This implies that female teachers were competent and prepared to perform well like their fellow males in Mathematics. Our findings are similar to that of Garet et al. [13], who found that professional development training positively impacted grade four teachers’ knowledge. It was also confirmed by Shukla et al. [31], who found both males and females can perform highly or equally with fellow males as long as they are provided with the same learning environment.

According to the aforementioned report of ANOVA, the training initiatives have undoubtedly improved the performance and practices of SET primary teachers. Indeed, this study discovered a very high statistically significant difference in the mean scores of SET teachers before and after being exposed to RQBEHCD training. However, the study did not find a statistically significant difference in the mean score of male and female teachers. The findings of this study are in line with the results obtained by Gibbs and Coffey, [14] research which illustrated that training impact positively teacher performance and practices.

According to Nkundabakura et al. [24], concept theory of change ascertains that all individuals are competent and capable of being successful when provided with the opportunities necessary to pursue their goals. Thus, the findings of the present study also agree with this theoretical concept because, after training, the performance of all teachers increased with no statistically significant difference in the mean scores between males and females. In addition, the observed results are linked to the theory of change because it aims to determine intended activities and their implementation potential to bring about desired outcome [6]. The observed outcomes were additionally validated by the study conducted by Wanakacha et al. [37] on gender differences in motivation and teacher performance in core functions in Kenyan secondary Schools. According to Wanakacha et al. [37] showed that there is no statistically significant difference in performance between female and male teachers. This was also in agreement with Uwineza et al. [35], who showed that females and males have the same performance and interest in Mathematics and Sciences. Based on our findings, both males and females benefited equally from the exposures and gained useful knowledge in their careers.

8 Conclusion and implications

Teachers’ CK is a changeable attribute determining children’s education; educators must understand how to measure and improve this construct efficiently and effectively. The current study seeks to investigate the effectiveness of training in mathematics and SET teachers’ Content Knowledge. The study also investigates the areas where Mathematics and SET teachers lack conceptual understanding for future improvement. The results showed that there is a high statically significant difference in the performance of mathematics teachers before (Pre-test) and after attending training (post-test) (p < 0.005, η = 0.450) in favor of the post-test. Teachers benefited from the intervention (training) and improved their content knowledge. However, the results showed no statistically significant difference in the mean score of Mathematics male and female teachers (p > 0.05, η = 0.001).

Likewise, in the SET subject, the results showed a very high statistically significant difference in the mean performance of SET teachers between pre and post-test (p < 0.001, η = 0.432) in favor of the post-test. Nevertheless, the finding also showed no statistically significant difference in the mean score of male and female teachers (p > 0.05, η = 0.018). The study also showed that some SET teachers still lack conceptual understanding because even after training, they could not correctly respond to some questions, particularly those about biology and chemistry. However, It has been found that teachers with more content-based professional development will have more accurate and up-to-date CK than those who depend solely on what they learned in college. Therefore, different implications were drawn from the present study findings based on the results.

On the other side, CPD program enhance teachers’ engagement, interest, confidence, self-efficacy, and motivation in Teaching Mathematics and SET. Based on our results, the study implies a powerful representation for teachers in terms of encouraging them to pursue STEM Fields.

8.1 Implications for future practice

In this study, there are results from conducted training with in-service primary mathematics teachers whereby showed improvement after being trained. However, we are fully aware that some teachers demonstrated the same lack of conceptual understanding linked to different topic areas of biology and chemistry in SET and Geometry, Metric Measurement, Fraction, Statistics, and Elementary Probability in mathematics which have a high impact on teachers’ classroom performance. With this in mind, we recommend proper training manuals based on teachers’ lack of conceptual understanding reported about such dressed subject topic areas and provided in a way that can encourage teachers to conduct weekly CPDs in their respective departments.

8.2 Implications for further studies

This study on teachers’ performance in primary science and mathematics was conducted with a quantitative design. However, intending to improve science and mathematics teachers’ content knowledge, ICT skills, laboratory practice, and teaching pedagogy, and regarding the indicated findings on teachers’ lack of conceptual understanding, we decided to use questionnaires as an instrument before and after training to identify teachers’ improvement in terms of content knowledge, ICT skills, laboratory practice, and teaching pedagogy. Furthermore, future research needs to focus on correlation research design studies that examine the relationship between teachers’ performance and teaching practice as well as a deep analysis of the source of related factors that contributes much to the lack of conceptual understanding in Mathematics and SET.