MZUMBE UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FOUNDATIONS AND TEACHING MANAGEMENT Teaching Practice Experience on Poor Performance in Mathematics Subject: A Case of Form III at Kayenzi Secondary School By Awit K. Elias Teaching Practice Field Report Submitted to the Department of Education Foundations and Teaching Management at the Mzumbe University in partial fulfillment of Education Degree September, 2019 FIELD ATTACHMENT REPORT Field Station (School/Colleges)…………………………………… Student Name……………………………………………………….. Signature: ` Date……………………………………….. Degree Program………………………………………………………. Host Institution Supervisor’s Name…………………………………. Signature: ………………………………..Date: …………………….. i TABLE OF CONTENTS FIELD ATTACHMENT REPORT .................................... Ошибка! Закладка не определена. TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATION ........................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER ONE ................................................................. Ошибка! Закладка не определена. 1.0introduction .................................................................... Ошибка! Закладка не определена. 1.1 Background ................................................................... Ошибка! Закладка не определена. 1.2 Nature of the school .................................................................................................................. 1 1.2.1 Geographical location ............................................................................................................ 1 1.2.2 Social, cultural and economic activities..................... Ошибка! Закладка не определена. 1.2.3 Population characteristics of the area .................................................................................... 2 1.3 Objective of the Study .............................................................................................................. 2 1.4 Data collection methods ............................................................................................................ 3 1.5Research Questions .................................................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................................ 4 DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES AND FINDINGS .................................................................... 5 2.0Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 5 2.1 Literature review ....................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Descriptions of activities........................................................................................................... 7 2.3 findings related to TP ................................................................................................................ 7 CHAPTER THREE ........................................................................................................................ 9 INTERPRETATION OF ACTIVITIES AND FINDINGS ............................................................ 9 3.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 9 ii 3.1 Analysis of Findings ................................................................................................................. 9 3.2 Discussion of Findings and Activities undertaken.................................................................. 11 CHAPTER FOUR ......................................................................................................................... 12 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ............................................................................ 12 4.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 12 4.1 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 12 4.2 Recommendation .................................................................................................................... 12 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 13 iii ACKNOWLWDGEMENT All thanks to God. I am grateful my students and Mathematics teachers at Kayenzi Secondary School for their cooperation in assisting me to get reliable information related to the problem of the study. I am thankful for their assistance My profound gratitude goes to my supervisor Kiwara J, in the Department of Educational Studies at Mzumbe University for her guidance and criticism during supervision for the completion of the report Also my grateful goes to my friends MS Zainab Msemo and Leonard Nzumbi for assisting me to have a Personal Computer in the process of typing this work I am really thankful for their assistance My appreciation also goes to my colleagues for their challenges and support during the process of making analysis of the findings related to TP, as they played the great role in criticizing and providing better judgments from which I used them in accomplishment of my report It is not possible to appreciate every one whom participated in achievement of this report by name, but my sincerely gratitude goes every one whom in one way or another has contributed something towards the achievement of my field report. God bless all of them. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATION MU… ....................................................... Mzumbe University CSEE……………………………………Certificate of Secondary Education Examination TP……………………………………….Teaching Practice NECTA…………………………………..National Examination Council of Tanzania FTNA Form Two National Assessment v LIST OF TABLES Table 1 ............................................................................................................................................ 2 vi CHAPTER ONE 1.0 Introduction This chapter provides information about background of the study, objectives of the study together with the methods employed by investigator in collecting information related to the problem of the study 1.1 Background of the study Mathematics is the one of the oldest field of study in the history of mankind. It has been believed that mathematics sharpens the human brain develops their logical thinking and enhance their reasoning skills. In school curriculum mathematics is regarded as the most important subject, since it has direct association with other subjects particularly with science subjects (Federal Republicof Nigeria, 2013). However the subject cut across primary and secondary levels. Mathematics remain as the one of the most difficult subject as perceived by the students (Suleiman, Yusuf; Hammed, Araba;, 2019). This is due to poor performance of students in National Examination issued by National Examination Council of Tanzania (NECTA) each year at form four levels. Poor performance of students in mathematics at secondary level becomes one of the greatest problem that face community schools in Tanzania. Such kind of problem also exists at Kayenzi Secondary that has influenced the study to investigate on the factors that lead students to perform poorly in mathematics at Kayenzi Secondary School. 1.2 Nature of organization Kayenzi Secondary School is the public Secondary School with Centre registration number S1512. The school was established in November 2003 but started its operations in 2004. Kayenzi Secondary provides an ordinary level education for the sake of preparing students to pursue their certificate of secondary education. The school offers elementary education in three categories; science, business and art category. Kayenzi Secondary has the total of 1030 registered students and 38 teachers enrolled for teaching various subjects. Specifically the school has the total of 3 mathematics teachers. 1.2.1 Geographical Location Kayenzi Secondary is located in Morogoro urban district at Mwembesongo ward. The school is nearby industrial area. The distance covered from the main road (Dodoma road) to the school is three kilometers. Kayenzi Secondary is at latitude6.7770° 𝑆 37.6811°𝐸. 1 1.2.2 Social, Cultural and Economic Activities The basic social activity undertaken at Kayenzi Secondary School is provision of education, as the school offers educational service to the younger population in the process of preparing them to cope with their social environment in an attempt of interacting with others in their daily life activities. In addition to that the school had the custom of engaging in sports and games as the part of cultural activity undertaken in school. Despite of these activities, citizen along the school takes opportunity of conducting minor trading activities such As selling their snacks to students, teaching and non teaching staff. 1.2.3 Population Characteristics of the Area Kayenzi is less dense populated area, as the number of the people live in a specific area is less compered to the other streets in Mwembesongo ward which has the total of 315,866 people according to 2012 census, with the following distribution Table: 1, Number of people in Mwembesongo ward GENDER NUMBER MALES 151,700 FEMALE 164,166 Total 315,866 Source: Field study 2019 1.3 Objectives of the study General Objective The general objective of this study was to determine the factors that contribute to poor performance of students in mathematics subject at Kayenzi Secondary School. Specific Objective i) To investigate on the performance of students in mathematics at Kayenzi Secondary School ii) To explore on the possible solutions of addressing the problem of poor performance of students in mathematics subject at Kayenzi Secondary School 2 1.4 Data collection method The following were the methods used to collect data from the field station i. Observation method This method was used to observe different activities undertaken with in school environments, teaching staff meetings and school meetings. Observed data were recorded as per what was observed by investigator ii. Interview method This method was used to collect opinions of respondents, where sets of questions were provided to them pertaining to the problem of the study. The method was used to collect data from both students and teachers through direct conversation with respondents 1.5 Research questions The following are the questions that guide investigator in collecting data from the field i. What is the performance of students in Mathematics subject at Kayenzi Secondary School? ii. What are the factors that contribute to poor performance of students in Mathematics subject at Kayenzi Secondary School? iii. What are the possible solutions of addressing the problem of poor performance of students in Mathematics subject at Kayenzi Secondary School? 3 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW AND DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES 2.0 Introduction This chapter contains part of literature review, of study and the empirical framework of other scholars which relates with the problem of the study. Furthermore this chapter provides the description of activities and tasks assigned to the investigator during Teaching Practice 2.1 Literature review This section provides the room for analysis of the work performed by other scholars in examining the factors that contribute to poor performance of students in mathematics at Community Secondary Schools in Tanzania 2.1.1 Conceptual framework According to Stiko (2013), defined conceptual framework as the the system of concepts , beliefs, assumptions, expectation that support and inform about the study. Based on the expectations of the study, students performance in mathematics is influenced by; student’s school background in mathematics, availability of teaching and learning materials together with teaching methodologies applied by teachers in teaching mathematics. School background of students in mathematics at primary level act as the basic foundation in assisting students to understand several mathematics concept that they are interacting with at ssecondary level. The study assumes that a student with good mathematics background from primary school is expected to have good performance in secondary level. On the other side a student with poor background in mathematics at primary level is expected to perform poorly in mathematics. Availability of teaching and learning mathematics materials such as mathematical tables, books and other related instruments assist students to enrich themselves in learning some difficult mathematical concepts taught in classroom. Also teaching methods used by the teachers in classrooms affect the performance of students in mathematics at secondary level. The use of lecture method in teaching mathematics at secondary level is regarded as the one of the method that discourage students’ understanding in mathematics, as the method doesnot gives a room for students to participate directly in learning mathematical language, leading them to have poor perfomance in mathematics. 4 2.1.2 Empirical framework According to Vumbi (2013), postulated that “ the cognitive styles influences the personality of individual and affect the psychological that indicate how learners perceive, interact with and respond to the learning environment”. This indicates that methodologies employed by the teachers in teaching mathematics play a vital role in assisting students understanding of mathematics subject. In addition to that the use of variety methods in teaching mathematics depends with the competence of mathematics teachers. Unqualified teachers employed wrong teaching methods of teaching which result in general hatred of the subject by the students in mathematics (Araba, 2019). The study reveals that existance of competent mathematics teachers who employ variety of methodologies in teaching mathematics has great impact on improving the performance of students in mathematics. According to (Maganga, 2013) the teaching method that involve students discussing or conversing rather than using writtern books and syllabus depost knowledge to the students. Using the method that is compatible to more than one sense organ creates better grounds for students to derive clear understanding of mathematical concepts. Furthermore, availability of enough and reliable teaching and learning materials plays a significant role in uplifting the perfomance of students in mathematics. Since, instructional materials positively influences students’ performance in mathematics. Amos (2011) studied the effect of using improvised instructional materials on academic achievement of students, the researcher concluded that the utilization of improvised instructional materials promotes and enhance effective teaching-learning process. In addition to that, Eric Mwenda, et al ( 2013) postulates that, teaching and learning resources are of great faactor to be considered for meaningful teaching and learning. Inadequate teaching and learning resources such as textbooks and revision material especially in upcoming schools deny the students the opportunity to revise broadly. 2.2 Description of activities Teaching practice (TP) started in 13thAugust 2019 at Kayenzi Secondary School in Morogoro Municipal. I was assigned to teach Basic Mathematics in form three class on the topic CIRCLES. I was given the task to invigilate Pre-National exams for form four class that started in 19th August 2019. Furthermore, I participated in marking form three Basic mathematics papers attempted by students. From 27th September 2019 , I was assigned as the Teacher On Duty (TOD) for the whole week. I was assessed by Mr. Lupogo at 31st October 2019. 5 2.3 Findings related to tp The purpose of this study was to find outfactors that contribute to poor performance of students in Mathematics subject at Kayenzi Secondary School. Thefollowing are the factors that lead students to perform poorly in Mathematics subject as given by the respondents; Students perceptions towards Mathematics When students were asked how they perceive mathematics subject at secondary level most them replied by saying it is the most difficult subject among all those subjects that they are pursuing at secondary level as it is too munipulative cumbled with a lot of calculations from which they can not handle to grasp all concepts, this creates anxiety and fear of mathematics to them, as the results lead them into poor achievement in mathematics subject. Students Attendance in class Absence of students in mathematics sessions is the matter of concern. Since students’ attendance in class plays a significance role in enhancing understanding of some mathematics concepts demonstrated by the teacher from which they wouldn’t have them from anywhere. When students were asked why abstenteesm causes poor performance in mathematics 15 students agreed, and futher they said “If students will not attend in class during mathematics session, then their peerfomance could eventually be low”. Discouragement in studying Mathematics In some cases, students are discouraged to study msthematics in secondary level. When they were asked hpow the students are discouraged, 5 of them said “these discouragements are brought by their parents by considering the performance of their former children in mathematics at secondary level from which they develops misconceptions on the difficultness of mathematics, as the result they tend to discourage the precciding student to stress themselves in studying Mathematics regarding to the perfomance” hence lead them into poor performance. Lack of supportive environments When students were asked on the influence of environment toward their performance in mathematics, 10 of them said that “absence of supportive enviroment to assist the progress of their studies at home create a tension to them in their attempt of reviewing what they have studded at home”, further 3 teachers argued that most of their students’ origimates from poor families thus their domestic environment doesn’t favor them to have extra studies at home as most of them are overwhelmed with activities this cause them to perform poorly in mathematics 6 Lack of studying habits Most of the students said that “ they lack behavior of planning their time for studying mathematics”. As most of them doesn't have a timetable for solving even a once per day, they lack groups for discussing some difficult concepts related to mathematics and even they meet for discussion in group they tend to discuss other subjects leaving mathematics. Thi makes them to have poor foundation in mathematics subject, as the result it lead them in poor performance in mathematics subject Lack of teaching motives Teachers proponded that in some cases they lack motive for making followup on students performance in mathematics, they feel tired to make followups to students because their performance doesn’t influence teachers so they decide to give up. This makes it difficult for students to have the ability of solving difficult tasks related to mathematics as teachers doesn’t have motive for pfoviding assignments or questions after executing a topic. As this happens make them to have poor performance in mathematics subject. Social networks Globalization has some negative impact towards students academic performance, as in most cases students tend to spend a lot of time in social networks like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram etc, charting, posting, commenting watching unacademic themes, as the result makes them to have little time for studying other subjects leaving mathematics. As this happens make them to have poor performance in mathematics subject. Students background in mathematics Academic history of the students from primary school has the great impact on their achievements in Secondary level, as the primary academic achievement act as the foundation in deriving understanding of some difficult concepts in Secondary level. In most cases students in public schools are enrolled with poor performance in mathematics subject at primary level as the result it becomes difficult for students to understand some mathematical concepts in Secondary level leading them to perform poorly in mathematics subject. 7 CHAPTER THREE INTERPRETATION OF ACTIVITIES AND FINDINGS 3.0 Introduction This chapter provide clear analysis of the findings and activities undertaken during a TP pertain to poor performance of students in mathematics subject at Kayenzi Secondary School 3.1 Analysis and discussion of findings This part gives a clear anaalysis of the findings collected from the field. It provides the judgements provided by the respondennts linking them with the basic assumptions of the study together with the related literatures undertaken by other scholars on the based on the problem of the study. The following are the analysis of the findings collected from the field; Students perceptions towards Mathematics Attitude of students towards mathematics in Secondary Schools influences their performance in mathematics subject. This cause them to perform poorly in mathematics subject. Students who are not confident in doing matematics may not experience success in mathematics (Sanchal & Sharma, 2017). As it was postulated by respondents they perceive mathematics as the one of the most difficult subject in Secondary level, this lead them to have poor performance in mathematics subject. Students Attendance in class Students attendance in a class is of great impact in their performance in any subject. As their presence assist them in grasping some difficult concepts in several topics. If students attend mathematics class, it can give them experience of solving some difficult concepts. From respondent’s view “Absenteeism put student in a tough situation on their attempt to understand some basic content of the preceding lesson which is founded on the past lesson”. Attendance of students in class had positive and significant impact in academic peformance (Romeo, 1993) . Discouragement in studying Mathematics As per respondent’s view “students are discouraged by their parents and their former graduates in studying mathematics with the regards of poor performance of former graduates in the subject”. Generalizations made by parents and other people towards the difficult ness of mathematics at secondary level discourage the progress of succeeding students in mathematics subject. As the result cause them to have poor performance in mathematics subject at secondary level. 8 Lack of supportive environments Poor home environment crumbled with noise, a lot of activities create a tension to the students in their attempt of reviewing what they have studded at home. Academic achievement of a pupil is always associated with the many components of learning environments (Kitonyi, 2013). With poor home environment students success in mathematics subject will eventually be low, because students wouldn't be able to find a proper time for solving which in turn cause them to have poor performance in mathematics Lack of studying habits “in most cases students lack behavior of planning their time for studying mathematics. As most of them doesn't have a timetable for solving even a once per day, they lack groups for discussing some difficult concepts related to mathematics and even they meet for discussion in group they tend to discuss other subjects leaving mathematics” as it was explained by the one student when they were asked if do they have the habit of studying mathematics?. This lead them to poor perfomance in mathematics subject. Lack of teaching motives Successful teacher is governed with a lot of factors, out of being passionate a successful teacher is accompanied with motives which can be brought either by the government or organization. One teacher proponded that “they doesn't have a motive for making followup on students performance, perhaps this could be one of the reason for mass failure in mathematics”. Inadequance teaching force especially at the time when a teacher is required to handle the large class size which later affect the quality of teaching and learning as the teachers are not able to deal with individual differences (Eric Mwenda, 2013). As this happens make students to have poor performance in mathematics subject. Social networks Social Networks has the great contribution towards deterioting students achievements in academics, as in most cases students tend to spend a lot of time in social networks like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram etc, charting, posting, commenting watching unacademic themes, as it was explained by the one of respondents. This is true since most of the students in the secondary schools have the smart phones and they spend a lot of time in seaching unacademic literatures as the result makes them to have little time for studying other subjects leaving mathematics. As this happens make them to have poor performance in mathematics 9 Students background in mathematics Performance of students in mathematics is influenced by their background from primary. In most cases students in public schools are enrolled with poor performance in mathematics subject at primary level as the result it becomes difficult for students to understand some mathematical concepts in Secondary level leading them to perform poorly in mathematics subject. But also economic background of parents at home has the great impact toward students achievement in academics, as students with poor parents may not be able to afford the costs of some learning facilities and textbooks, since such parents could not be able to provide them for their children’s needs, such student will develop non-chalants attitude towards mathematics (Korau, 2006) 3.2 Discussion of activities undertaken This section provides the platform for discussing the findings collected in relation to the activities undertaken from the field accompained with observations made by the investigator during TP Findings were collected from 4 form three classes, sample of nine students were selected from each form three class making the total of 36 students. Besides the report regarded the contribtion of mathematics teachers from which three teachers participated in interview. The following are the findings related to TP From students responses Based on the respondent’s perceptions “students performance in mathematics is contributed by many factors”, the lack of linkage among these factors cause them to have poor performance in mathematics subject at secondary level. From their views group discussion plays a vital role in adjusting the performance of students in mathematics, as through discussion studets can have ability to recap what was learned since by interacting with others can enable them to have a long term memory for what they have learned. This can assist them to do better in their exams. With the absence of group discussion most of the students achievement in mathematics can eventally be low, since mathematics needs some discussions for it to be well understood. Based on what I saw most of the students do not have the habit of engaging in group discussion as the result this makes them to lack some competency in solving diffirenct questions related to mathematics. Therefore the finding suggest that with the existance of group discussion students’ performance in mathematics can be raised Also most of the students at Kayenzi Scondary have poor school background in mathematics 10 from primary level, this made them to have failure in understanding some basic mathematical concepts at secondary level. In most cases students fail to make connection of some concepts related to mathematics as the result lead them into failure in mathematics. The findings indicate that better acadenmic background of students from primary level create better grounds for students achievements in mathematics From teachers’ responses Findings suggested that in most cases teachers at public Secondary schools are discouraged in their profesionalism, as the case teachers are subjected to teach in the class of poor infrastructures, lack of teaching materials, absence of other encouraging factors, this cause them to have low motives for teaching this create some inconviniences in students’ performance especially in mathematics subject. Discouragement to the teachers made them to have failure in providing extra materials, assignments and followups to students for their performance in mathematics subject. But also an increase in number of enrollment of students at secondary level from primary create congestion in classes, this discourage teachers during lesson delivery, causing them to teach without regarding understnding of the students, this also can lead to poor performance of students in mathematics subject. Besides the findings show that lack of teaching force among the teachers create poor environments for students to achieve better grades in mathematics, as in most cases teachers fails to complete syllabus in their teaching process from which it gives hard time for students to face the National Examination at form four level lead them to perform poorly in mathematics 11 CHAPTER FOUR CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 4.0 Introduction This chapter provides generalised view on the performance of students in mathematics subject at secondary level, it provide a conclusion pertaining to the factors that contribute to the students poor performance of students in mathematics subject at Kayenzi Secondary School. Further the chapter gives recommendations on what should be done in order to rise the performance of students in mathematics 4.1 Conclusion Academic achievement of students at any level of schooling is accompained with many factors. In most cases students learning is governed by the theories. As the student achievement is guided by the changes of behavior as stipulated in behaviorism theory of learning, information processing based on thought process behind the behavior as stipulated in cognitivism theory together with construction of knowledge of the word based on individual experiences as postulated in the theory of constructivism. As the case for Kayenzi Secondary School, the study conconcluded that performance of students in mathematics can be raised if teachers take time to improve the progress of their students there by providing better grounds for students to participate directly in mathematics related activities there by providing enough assignments, extra questions, take time to review mistakes of some past papers done by students and encouraging them to organize themselves for discussion. In maintaininng teachers’ courage in teaching mathematics, the school management has to allocate materials required for teaching and learning process and encourage them to review before they make an attempt to teach the class so as to improve their competence in mathematics subject 4.2 Recommendations In order to rise the performance of students in mathematics, the study recommends the following i) The government and stakeholders should invent new policies and stragegies to maintain the enrollment of qualified and competent mathematics teachers in order to deliver the required content to students ii) Students should put their efforts in extra studing of mathematics so as to familiarize themselve with some basic mathematical concepts at Secondary level iii) School management should motivate their mathematics teachers in their teaching process 12 REFERENCES Amos, M. a. (2011). Instructional Matherials and Students' Academic Achievement in Mathematics: Some Policy Implication. European journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2220-9425. Araba, H. (2019). Perceived Causes of Students' Failure in Mthematics l;Implication for Educational Managers. International Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics, 1933. Eric Mwenda, e. a. (2013). Factors Contributing to Sstudents Poor Performance in Mathematics in Public Secondary Schools in Tharaka South District, Kenya. Journal of Education and Practice, 93-99. Federal Republicof Nigeria. (2013). National Policy on Education. Lagos: NERDC Press. Kitonyi, P. N. (2013). Influence of Learning environment on Pupil Academic Performance. Nairobi. Korau, Y. K. (2006). Educational Crises Facing Nigerian Secondary Schools and Possible Solutions. Paper Presented at Facult of Education National Cponference. Maganga, C. K. (2013). Evolution of Philosophical Disclosure on Education. Dar-es-Saalam: Tanzania Open School and Publishing House. Romeo, D. (1993). Do studenmts go to class? Should the? J Econ Perspect. Stiko, N. (2013). Designing Qualitative Research Project: Conceptual Framework and Research Questions. Indaba Agricultue Policy Research Institute. Suleiman, Yusuf; Hammed, Araba;. (2019). Perceived Causes of Students' Failure in Mathematicsin Kwara State Junior Secondary Schools: Implication for Educational Managers. International Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics, 19-33. Vumbi, M. (2013). The Poor Performance of Students in Community Secondary Schools in Tanzania. 13