An Investigation into some of the Factors which Influence Students’ Performance in Mathematics in Public Secondary Schools in Embu West District, Embu County, Kenya
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Date
2014-02-26
Authors
Njagi, Lydia Igandu
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Abstract
The research addressed the factors that could influence performance in Mathematics in
public secondary schools in Embu West District. It aimed at determining the teacher,
student and school-related factors that influence performance in mathematics in the
district. The study adopted descriptive research design. The target population was
mathematics teachers and Form Three students. Stratified sampling technique was used to
select fourteen (14) public secondary schools: 4 for boys, 4 for girls and 6 for mixed from
44 public secondary schools in Embu West District, Embu County, Kenya. The study
used a sample of four hundred and nineteen (419) Form Three students from the fourteen
stratified and randomly selected secondary schools. Twenty-seven Mathematics Teachers
teaching the study classes were purposively sampled. Simple random sampling was used
to select one stream from each category where there were more than one stream,
otherwise the stream was purposively selected. This study was carried out in Embu West
District, Embu County, Kenya. The factors considered in this study include: the students’
gender, class size, teaching methods and availability of teaching/learning resources.
These are the independent variables and the dependent variable is students’ performance.
The objective of the study was to find out whether these factors influence the students
achievement in mathematics significantly or not. A pilot study was conducted to test the
reliability of the measuring instruments. Questionnaires, classroom observation schedules
and achievement test were used to collect data. The data collected, was coded and
analyzed using the SPSS package. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique
was used to test the effect of the factors on students performance. The study revealed that
students’ performance is influenced by teaching method. The student- centred method
was found to be superior to teacher-centred method of teaching. Class size was found to
have a significant influence on students’ performance: large and medium classes were
found to perform significantly better than small classes. However, the small classes were
found in mixed day secondary schools where the KCPE mean entry score was very
low(177.7) as compared to 338.75 and 333.25 for boys and girls boarding schools
respectively which had large and medium classes. The study also revealed that the
availability of textbooks influence students’ performance, although, the influence was not
statistically significant. Gender differences were noted in performance where on average
male students performed better than female students, however, the difference was not
statistically significant. It was recommended that heuristic approaches to teaching should
be integrated with expository approaches to enhance teaching and learning. Cooperative
learning should be emphasized among teacher-students and students-students and
students should be exposed to problem-solving situations to help them develop critical
thinking skills.
Description
Department of Educational Communication and Technology, 87p. 2013