A SURVEY TO THE FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE STUDENTS’ POOR PERFORMANCE IN MATHEMATICS IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS
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A SURVEY TO
THE FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE STUDENTS’ POOR PERFORMANCE IN MATHEMATICS IN
SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS
ABSTARCT
Mathematics
is intimately connected to daily life and everybody’s life-long planning. Shut
out mathematics from daily life and civilisation comes to a standstill. It is
in the light of this, that the research seeks to build and elicit among
students and teachers the proper appreciation and interest in the value of
mathematics to the individual and society. This is done with a particular focus
on the senior secondary schools in Idah local government area of Kogi state,
Nigeria. The relevant data and information was collected by a teacher
questionnaire. It is based on the 4-points Likert scale responses. Simple mean
was used to analyse the data. Numerical values 4, 3, 2, and 1 were assigned to
the options respectively. The mean value for acceptance is X≥2.5 otherwise
reject. For each cluster the acceptance point is 12.5.
The finding
of this survey confirmed the fact that; the teacher factor, students’ attitude
and commitment, methods of teaching mathematics, use of instructional materials
and the school environment are to a great extent valid factors that influences
the students poor performance in mathematics in the senior secondary school
certificate Examination.
CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Osokoya
(2003) defines Education as a continuous process which the society
establishes
to assist its members to understand the heritage of the past and to
participate
productively in the future. It is the leading out of the in-born powers and
potentialities
of the individuals in the society and the acquisition of skills, aptitudes,
and
competencies necessary for self-realisation and for coping with life’s problem.
For Afe
(2000), Education is considered as a tool to be used for the integration of the
individual
into the society to achieve self-realisation, develop national consciousness,
promote
unity, and strive for social, economic, political, scientific, cultural and
technological
progress. Education in science and mathematics therefore becomes
bedrock and
indispensable tools for scientific, technological and economic
advancement
in any nation. It gives the nation the capacity to apply technology for
the
exploitation of the resources of nature. Such exploitation will depend greatly
on
mathematics
for laying the foundation for political, governmental, military, civil,
scientific,
technological advancement, economic development, socio-cultural and
environmental
peace.
There are
number of questions which need to be answered at this stage. What then is
Mathematics?
Why should everybody learn Mathematics? What is the importance of
this subject
in life and in school curriculum? What shall be the advantage of devoting
so much
effort, time, and money to the teaching of Mathematics? The importance of
mathematics
transcends all the definitions and the prosperity of any country
depends on
the volume and quality of mathematics offered in its school system. Obe
(1996) conceptualises
mathematics as the master and servant of most disciplines and thus, a source of
enlightenment and understanding of the universe. He further
opines that
without it, the understanding of national problems would be superficial.
Greaber and
Weisman (1995) agree that mathematics helps the individual to
understand
the environment and to give accurate account of the physical phenomena
around every
person. To this end, Setidisho (2001) submits that no other subject
forms a
strong binding force among various branches of science as mathematics, and
without it,
knowledge of the sciences often remains superficial.
Emphasising
the importance of the subject to the society, Robert (1987) stated that in
the United
States, mathematics has come to play important roles: in the engineering
of highways,
the search for energy, the designing of television sets, the profitable
operation of
most business, astronauts flying space-crafts, the study of epidemics,
the
navigation of ships at sea all depends on the study of mathematics. Ogunbanjo
(1998)
opines that all over the world, sciences has been accepted as a vehicle of
technology,
social and economic development. Mathematics is not only basic to these
but is the
language of science. In another related study, Igbokwe (2003) highlights
the
intricate link of mathematics to science and technology, and contends that
without
mathematics there will be no science and without science there will be no
technology,
and without technology there will be no modern society. These and many
more reasons
are why the Nigerian government believes that the subject should be
taken
seriously in our school system; and Nigeria in her march towards technological
development,
has not made mathematics a compulsory subject in the curriculum of
the primary
and secondary school levels of her educational system (Federal Republic
of Nigeria,
2004) but also as a prerequisite to the study of science courses in her
colleges,
polytechnics and universities (JAMB Brochure, 19992-2007).
Shapiro
(2000) defines Mathematics as the study of qualitative relations; put simply,
it is the
science of structure, order, numbers, space and relationships about counting,
measuring
and describing of shapes and objects. It qualifies in its own right as a
science but
it is often regarded as a language of and a link between all the sciences.
Soyemi
(1999) Mathematics is a body of knowledge that opens up the mind to logical
reasoning,
analytical thinking and the ability for creative thinking, deep focusing and
clarity of
thought and precision. It is the hub on which all scientific and technological
studies find
their bearings. In pure sciences it is the basis and language of study, in
applied
sciences and technology it is an indispensable tool of analysis, with the
social
sciences it
is a scaffold and for the Arts the light that gives consistently and
completeness
to its study. Osafehinti (1990) observes that the learning of
mathematics
in schools represent first, a basic preparation for adult life and secondly
a gateway to
a vast array of career choices. And from the societal perspective,
competence
in mathematics is essential for the preparation of an informed citizenry
and for
continuous production of highly skilled personnel required for industry,
technology
and science. The progress of any nation depends upon her scientific and
technological
advancement which can only be built on a sound mathematical
education
capable of making the citizens effectively functional in the natural and
applied
sciences. The study of Mathematics therefore will go a long way to “equip
students to
live effectively in our modern age of science and technology” (NPE 2004).
Fakuade
(1977) sums up this assertion; for the purposes of economic survival, the
ordinary
citizen needs to be able to compare and estimate values of articles,
determine
prices of foodstuffs, reckon distances and time, weigh evidence and be
able to sift
substances from chaffs. Thus in the complexity of the modern society
everyman
requires a certain amount of competence in basic mathematics for
purposes of
handling money, prosecuting daily businesses, interpreting
mathematical
graphs and charts and thinking logically.
In
concluding this section therefore, Mathematics Education must contribute
towards the
acquirement of these values: knowledge and skills, intellectual habits
and power,
desirable attitudes and ideals that are indispensable tools for a successful
and balanced
human existence.
During the
last fifty years there had been unprecedented efforts in curriculum
reforms in
Mathematics education in Nigeria, from the indigenous innovation of the
Africa
Mathematic Programme (AMP) (The Entebbe Mathematics (1961-1969),
through the
formation of Nigeria Educational Research Council (NERC) in 1969. In
spite of the
efforts made by these bodies, students’ failures rate in mathematics has
been on the
increase.
Similarly
workshops and conferences have also been held to salvage the situation and
gave a solid
foundation to mathematic education, curricula developments and
implementation.
To name but a few of such events are: The comparative Education
Study and
Adaptation Centre (1976) that took care of the secondary level mathematics
syllabus, the Benin Conference (1977) and The National Critique Workshop at
Onitsha (1978).
Subsequently
The National Mathematics Centre formulated and adopted the following objectives
for teaching mathematics in Nigeria secondary schools:
i. To
generate interest in mathematics and provide a solid foundation for everyday
living.
ii. To
develop computational skills
iii. To
foster the desire and ability to be accurate to a degree relevant to the
problem at hand.
iv. To
develop and practice logical and abstract thinking
v. To
develop capacity to recognise problems and to solve them with related
mathematics knowledge.
vi. To
provide necessary mathematical background for further education
vii. To
stimulate and encourage creativity.
1.2
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Observations
and reports from examining bodies like WAEC, NECO and JAMB revealed that a high
percentage of secondary school students continue to perform poorly in
mathematics examinations. Despite the laudable efforts at developing an
acceptable general mathematics curriculum students’ performance in the subject
appears to be declining over the years. To alleviate the situation in the 1989,
the National Mathematics Centre was established. Chief amongst its functions
include:
1. To
encourage and support activities leading to the improvement of the teaching and
learning of mathematical sciences at all levels.
2. To tackle
national set goals in the development of mathematical sciences.
3. To inject
mathematical education to the rarefied area of theoretical mathematics with a
view to increasing the number of mathematicians.
Yet in the
face of all these efforts the rate and degree of students’ poor performance in
senior secondary school examination in mathematics must now be a problem of
national concern. This sad situation is aptly described by Adeniyi (1988) who
rightly observes, that one’s involvement in the marking of mathematics for the
West African
Examinations
Council (WAEC) is enough to get anyone sorrowful at the state of
Mathematics
in Nigeria secondary schools. Some candidates submit their answer
scripts
without writing anything in them. Some candidates merely recopy the
questions,
while a high percentage of those who try to write anything at all score
below 40%.
This is aptly confirmed with the release of WAEC result for May/June
2011 as
quoted in the Leadership newspaper, “the West African Examination Council
(WAEC)
released results of the May/June 2011 west African senior secondary
certificate
examination, (WASSCE) with an abysmal 30% of the candidates making
credit in
English and Mathematics. Details of the results showed that the results of
81, 573
candidates representing 5.29% were withheld.
The question
that readily comes to mind is; what are the factors responsible for the
students’
poor performance in mathematics in secondary school examination? This
project will
therefore take a survey of the factors responsible for these failures, the
effect on
students and the future of our society, the attendant problems and proffer
means of the
changing the trend of students’ poor performance in mathematics.
The decline
in the numbers of candidates opting to pursue the studies in the sciences has
become a matter of considerable societal concern and debate among researchers
(Jenkins, 1996). Consequently, the promotion of favourable attitudes towards
science and learning of Mathematics is extremely critical and important.
However, the concept of poor performance in mathematics is rather ill-defined,
often poorly expressed and not well understood.
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