Motivation, gender-typing, learned helplessness and performance in 2015 JSCE mathematics by JC students in Gaborone

Abstract

At an age when there is a survival-threatening need for Africa to catch up with technology-driven global development, performance by our learners in the very subject that underwrites such development is alarmingly poor. In Botswana, as in all countries in sub-Saharan Africa, performance in mathematics by primary through secondary school learners is poor and has been deteriorating. This affects ability of secondary education to supply candidates to fill admission vacancies in engineering, medicine, and all other science-related programmes in the tertiary level, and for those admitted to do well or complete such programmes. To contribute a possible solution to this problem, a survey inferential study using a validated 6-point Likert scale questionnaire was undertaken. A t-test and an ANOVA analyses of survey and final examination data from 733 students from five randomly selected junior secondary schools in Gaborone showed that students were significantly poorly motivated when taking the final JSCE examination in mathematics, significantly gender-typed the subject and were significantly learned-helpless in their encounter with the subject. The level to which the students were poorly motivated had significant influence on their expected and actual performance as well as on their levels of gender-typing the subject and their level of learned helplessness in the subject. These findings were discussed and recommendations that followed from the findings are made.

Keywords: motivation; expected performance; actual performance; mathematics, gender-typing; learned helplessness; JSCE; Gaborone; Botswana