Effect of Resource Factors and Quality of Instruction on Performance in Mathematics of Nigeria Secondary School Students

It seems that educational system in Nigeria has undergone only quantitative improvement in terms of number of schools and students’ enrolment. However, there has been little effort in respect to the capacity to manage them through provisions of adequate financial, human, material and physical resources. Physical and material resources in secondary schools were discovered to be inadequate and poorly equipped. Some of the secondary school buildings were dilapidated, also the allocated financial resource, teaching and non-teaching staff are grossly inadequate compared with the students’ enrolment. The public, the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders in education are expressing serious concern about the consistency of the poor performance of secondary school students especially in mathematics. Increase in population and the government’s free education programs make people want to take advantage of the education provided. Provision of both professionally qualified and non-qualified teachers by government and non-state providers of education also appear not to ameliorate the problem of declining performances in mathematics. The effect of all these on the public secondary school student academic performance in mathematics concern the researchers of this study. It is against this background that the study sought to empirically investigates effect of resource factors and quality of instruction on performance in mathematics of Nigeria secondary school students.

Towards Flipped Learning in Upper Secondary Mathematics Education

Challenges for students in the 21st century, such as acquiring technology, problem-solving and cooperation skills, also necessitates changes in mathematics education to be able to respond to changing educational needs. One way to respond to these challenges is utilising recent educational innovations in schools, for instance, among others are flipped learning (FL) approaches. In this paper, we outline our explorative educational experiment that aims to investigate key elements of mathematics learning in FL approaches in upper secondary education. We describe the methodologies and findings of our qualitative study based on design-based research to discover key elements of FL approaches in upper secondary education. Analysing the data collected over ten months suggested categories (a) confidence when learning; (b) learning by working; and (c) flexibility when learning could be essential to understand FL approaches practices in mathematics classrooms.

Impact of Lesson Study on Motivation in Mathematics and Mathematics Achievement of Malaysian Foundation Programme Students

Low motivations in mathematics prevent students from learning it meaningfully and experience the beauties of mathematics through problem solving in Malaysia and many other countries. This quasi- experimental study was conducted among foundation level students so as to determine the impact of implementation of Lesson Study on students’ motivation in mathematics and mathematics achievement as well as gender in a public university in Selangor, Malaysia. Seven mathematics lecturers, a physic lecturer and researcher formed a Lesson Study group. This group planned and designed five Research Lessons about the functions focusing on problem solving. A lecturer was chosen randomly to teach these lessons to his classes as experimental and control groups. In this study, mathematics motivation test (5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (Not at all true) to 5 (Very true)) and lecturers developed tests were used to investigate the impact of Lesson Study on mathematics motivation and achievement. The data were analyzed by using independent t-test, ANOVA test, MANOVA test and non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test. The results of this study showed that students in experimental group obtained better results in both motivation and achievement tests. Also, there is no statistically significant interaction between the effects of educational method and gender on mathematics achievement scores. Furthermore, the results showed that the level of motivation is different among groups by gender but there were no significant mean differences among groups in any of subscales.

The Study of Geometry in Elementary Mathematics Textbooks in Finland, Singapore, and Taiwan

This study examined the differences in the presentation of geometry concepts and characteristics of geometry questions among elementary mathematics textbooks in Finland, Singapore, and Taiwan. Horizontal and vertical analysis methods were used to collect and analyze the data. A popular Mathematics textbook from a dominant publisher in each country were selected: Laskutaito from Finland, My Pals are Here! Maths from Singapore, and Kang Hsuan from Taiwan. The results indicated differences in the presentation of geometry concepts among the three textbook series. In addition, the questions in these textbooks were determined to demonstrate different characteristics. Moreover, these findings highlight the importance of cross-national textbook comparison to enhance the understanding of differences in learning opportunities across different countries.

Analysis of Student Errors in Solving Trigonometry Problems

This study aims to obtain a picture of student errors in working tests on Trigonometry. This research was conducted with a qualitative approach and was descriptive. The subjects studied were Mathematics Education students in the third semester of Class A of the University of Sembilanbelas November Kolaka in the Academic Year 2019/2020. This study uses an instrument in the form of a Final Examination in Trigonometry courses. Based on the research results obtained, an illustration that students' mistakes in working on problems in the Trigonometry course are caused by students not understanding the questions, the lack of accuracy in basic mathematical operations, and mastery of the concepts of trigonometry that students have.

Applying Cognitive Conflict Strategy to Develop Mathematical Critical Thinking Ability and Character of Students

The aim of this study is to design a valid, effective and practical learning trajectory with cognitive conflict strategy in developing critical thinking ability and character of students on set topic learning. In learning, counter information and guided question were given to guide the students to manage built conflict. This research is a three-stage design study with the following steps: initial preparation and design, real field implementation, and retrospective analysis. Data on student’s critical thinking skills were collected through student’s works in worksheets, post-test results and interviews. As for the character of the students were seen from the observations during the learning activities. The collected data are analysed descriptive-qualitatively. The learning trajectory of this design study had the following characteristics: 1) the students observing and relating the problem with their prior understanding or information they got from the sources; 2) students are directed to comparing and writing arguments from the counter information given to choose the correct answer; 3) the students are realizing or finding the correct information and construct their own comprehension or understanding; 4) the students giving conclusions and finding their own method to solve the problems.

Improving Achievement and Attitudes towards Mathematics Using Problem-Based Learning Setting Team Accelerated Instruction

Learning achievement and attitude towards mathematics are two of the indicators of student success in learning mathematics. Problems related to these two things that occur in classrooms where the author teaches encourage the author to make improvements in learning through a classroom action research to improve student achievement and attitudes toward mathematics. Classroom action research is carried out by applying Problem-Based Learning (PBL) with Team Accelerated Instruction (TAI) arrangements. Data were collected using two types of instruments, namely mathematics achievement test, and students' attitude toward mathematics questionnaire. The results showed that the average attitude of students towards mathematics there were 81% of students had good attitude categories to the top (59% good categories and 22% of very good categories), student achievement as much as 87.50% had been completed with an average student completeness is 81.75 while the implementation of learning activities has exceeded the specified target that is equal to 92.11% has been implemented. It can be concluded that the application of the PBL setting TAI model has succeeded in improving student achievement and student attitudes towards mathematics.

Does Math-Anxiety Affect Senior School Students’ Mathematics Performance? Evidence from Ekiti State, Nigeria

This study identified mathematics anxiety and its effects on students’in performance in Mathematics among Senior School Students in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The sample consisted of 238 SSSII students and 25 math-teachers that were randomly and purposively selected respectively. A questionnaire adapted from the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scale (FSMAS) was used for the study. Descriptive statistics was used to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypotheses. The study showed that mathematics anxiety exist among senior school students in the study area, which is characterized by feverish feelings in Mathematics class, difficulty in understanding math problem, failure to contribute in Mathematics class, truancy in Mathematics class among others. The study showed that there is a difference in the performance of Mathematics anxious and non-mathematics anxious students as revealed from the t-test. Also, the mean score of the math-anxious student and non-math anxious students were found to be 31.84% and 61.31% respectively. It is concluded from the study that Mathematics anxiety affects students’ performance in Mathematics. Concerned stakeholder should implement policies at secondary school level to extend the time of Mathematics class on time table, provide conducive environment and engage innovative teaching methods for the teaching of Mathematics.

Comparison of The Effectiveness of Scientific Approach and Problem-Solving Approach in Problem-Based Learning in Class IX of SMP Negeri 3 Pangsid

The research used is a quasi-experimental study that aims to determine whether there are differences in the effectiveness of the scientific approach and the problem-solving approach in problem-based learning in class IX students of SMP Negeri 3 Pangsid. The population in this study were all grade IX students of SMP Negeri 3 Pangsid, and the sample consisted of two classes, namely class IX.1 and class IX.2, as an experimental class. Based on data collection from learning outcomes, activities and responses of students show that the mathematics learning outcomes of students in the experimental class 1 are in the high category with a mean of 84.38, student activities in learning can be categorized well, while student responses tend to be positive towards this learning. So, it can be concluded that problem-based learning with the scientific approach is quite active. Student mathematics learning outcomes in experimental class 2 are in the high category with a mean of 79.58, student activity in learning is in right criteria, and student responses to this learning are positive. This shows that problem-based learning with a problem-solving approach is quite effective. Hypothesis testing at a significant level α = 0.05 with the t-test showed a significant difference in effectiveness, in terms of learning outcomes between students who applied problem-based learning with a scientific approach and students who applied problem-based learning with problem-solving approaches.

Mathematics Teachers Assess Instructional Methods Supporting Knowledge Processes

Answers to the questions of which instructional methods are suitable for school, what instructional methods should be applied in teaching individual subjects and how instructional methods support the act of learning represent challenges to general education and education in individual subjects. This article focuses on the empirical examination of instructional methods supporting knowledge processes in the act of learning. A survey was conducted in which mathematics teachers evaluated 20 instructional methods in regard to the following knowledge processes: build, process, apply, transfer, assess and integrate. The results of the study demonstrate that certain instructional methods are especially predestined for mathematics education: problem-based learning, direct instruction, learning at stations, learning tasks, project work and discovery learning