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African Research Review by International Association of African Researchers and Reviewers is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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Perceived and Actual Learning Difficulties of Students in Secondary School Mathematics
Abstract
This study investigated students’ perceived and actual learning difficulties in
secondary school mathematics. A total of 120 secondary school students
were involved in the study. This number was made up of 60 males and 60
females from four co-educational secondary schools in Etinan Local
Government Area of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria. A survey design was
adopted for the study. The Students’ Perception of Mathematics Difficult
Concept Questionnaire (SPMDCQ) and Mathematics Achievement Test
(MAT) were used as instruments for data collection. Data collected were
analyzed using means and standard deviations, Spearman Rank Order
Correlation and independent t-test. Findings showed that fourteen (14) of the
topics learned were identified as difficult based on students’ perceptions.
Furthermore, a negative significant relationship (r = -0.27) was found to
exist between the perceived and actual learning difficulties, while significant
difference existed between the male and female actual learning difficulties all
at 5% level of significance. Recommendations were made that teachers try as
much as possible to understand their students and their perceptions of
mathematics and adopt teaching methods that would be to their benefit.
secondary school mathematics. A total of 120 secondary school students
were involved in the study. This number was made up of 60 males and 60
females from four co-educational secondary schools in Etinan Local
Government Area of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria. A survey design was
adopted for the study. The Students’ Perception of Mathematics Difficult
Concept Questionnaire (SPMDCQ) and Mathematics Achievement Test
(MAT) were used as instruments for data collection. Data collected were
analyzed using means and standard deviations, Spearman Rank Order
Correlation and independent t-test. Findings showed that fourteen (14) of the
topics learned were identified as difficult based on students’ perceptions.
Furthermore, a negative significant relationship (r = -0.27) was found to
exist between the perceived and actual learning difficulties, while significant
difference existed between the male and female actual learning difficulties all
at 5% level of significance. Recommendations were made that teachers try as
much as possible to understand their students and their perceptions of
mathematics and adopt teaching methods that would be to their benefit.
