Perceived Difficulty Concepts in Mathematics by Senior School Students and Mathematics Teachers in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria
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Date
2016-11
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
National Mathematical Centre, Abuja
Abstract
The Study Sought to find out the perceived Difficult Concepts in Senior Secondary School Mathematics Curriculum by teachers and students in Kwara State. The study involved a survey research type to be followed by sampling techniques in which four research questions were raised. It sought for the level of perceived difficulty of mathematics concepts by students to learn and teach respectively in the senior school mathematics curriculum. The instrument for data collection was the researchers designed questionnaire which was validated by two experts in Mathematics Education and an expert in measurement and evaluation. The test-retest reliability index of 0.78 was obtained. Data analysis was carried out using frequency counts and percentages. The results of the study showed that only six concepts were perceived to be difficult to teach by the teachers, while twelve concepts were perceived difficult to learn by the senior school students of the sampled schools. The level of perceived difficulty was higher by male teachers than their female counterparts. It is therefore recommended among others that since senior secondary school mathematics teachers perceived only six concepts in the new mathematics curriculum to be difficult to teach, they should network with other teachers that have no difficulty with the concepts in order to improve their cognitive understanding of the identified difficult concepts and in return lead to better performance of their students. In addition, the mathematics teachers should use different methods to teach the concepts as to reduce the failure rate in both internal and external examinations.
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Keywords
Perceived, Difficult Concepts, Mathematics, Curriculum, Teaching, Learning, Metropolis
Citation
Ameen, K. S. , & Salman, M. F (2016): Perceived difficult concepts in Mathematics by senior school students’ and Mathematics teachers in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. . Journal of Mathematical Sciences Education, . 4 (1); 545-553, Published by National Mathematical Centre Abuja.