Determinants of Students' Mathematics Performance in Secondary Schools in Nyamira North District, Nyamira County, Kenya
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Date
2013-10-18
Authors
Mochogi, Geteregechi Joash
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to establish the determinants of student performance
in mathematics. The study was prompted by persistent poor performance amongst
secondary school students in Kenya and particularly in Nyamira North District of
Nyamira County. The independent variables of the study included students'
attitude towards mathematics, study habits, competence in mathematical notations,
teacher training & qualification, textbook availability, teachers' work load, and
teaching experience. The dependent variable was student performance in
mathematics. The researcher adopted a survey method to collect and analyse data
in order to meet the objectives of the study. Data was collected 340 students, and
23 teachers of mathematics using performance tests for students, questionnaire for
mathematics teachers, and questionnaire for students. The reliability of the
performance test was tested using the Kuder Richardson (formula 20) which gave
a reliability of 0.91. The reliability of the questionnaires was estimated using testretest
strategy and gave coefficients of 0.89 for the Students Questionnaire (SQ)
and 0.89 for Mathematics Teachers Questionnaire (MTQ). The data collected were
analysed mainly by use of descriptive statistics such as means, percentages,
frequencies and charts. The first research question which sought to compare
student attitude towards mathematics and performance in mathematics was
answered by use of frequencies and percentages. The second research question
sought to establish the relationship between student competence in mathematical
notation and performance in mathematics. To answer the third research question,
the study obtained quantitative data from the SQ and MTQ and analysed it using
percentages and frequency distributions. The fourth research question sought to
establish whether there was a significant difference in mathematics performance
between County and District Schools. This was done using one way Analysis of
Variance (ANOVA-F). The study found out that most students in the District had
negative attitude towards mathematics and this was reflected in their performance.
It was also discovered that competence in mathematical notations was positively
related to performance in mathematics (r = 0.887) at a = 0.05. The study also
established that majority of teachers in the District were trained in mathematics
education and were highly experienced. Students in County schools were found to
perform better than those in district schools and the difference was significant
Teachers had heavy workloads of up to 60 hours per which affected their
efficiency.