Causes and Effect of Mass Failure in Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination (JSSCE)
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The main purpose of this study was to find out the causes and effect of mass failure in junior secondary school certificate examination. The interest of the researcher is to examine critically and identify the cause and effect of mass failure in junior secondary certificate examination. Specifically the study sought to find out if
- There are sufficient numbers of qualified teachers in junior secondary school
- The negative attitude of students towards mathematics
- There are adequate instructional materials
- There is motivation to student by the teacher during mathematics class
- There are good background from primary school and the contribution of parent towards their children, Allocation of sufficient time for teaching in junior classes.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
This chapter reviews the literature on causes and effect of mass failure in junior secondary school examinations. It discusses issues arising from the topic of interest as viewed from different perspectives, with a view of giving a theoretical and empirical foundation to the study.
MEANING AND CONCEPT OF MATHEMATICS
The word mathematics is a Greek word meaning things that are learned. Majasa (1995), further defined it as the science of counting, measuring and describing of this shape of objects. It deals with logical reasoning and quantitative calculation and so has involved the science of structure, order and relation.
Mathematics as a school subject is recognized as the foundation of science and technology without a nation will never become prosperous and economically independent. Therefore, we count it as one of the boons of S.T.M. which stands for science, technology and mathematics as the bedrock of development of any nation. This underscores the importance of mathematical competence of all the learners at all levels of education and a reason for making mathematics compulsory and one of the leading core subjects in the secondary schools curriculum.
Mathematics is one of the languages of human life and certainly no more marvellous languages were ever created by the mind of man. Mathematics cut short the lengthy statements through its symbols, is free from verbosity, help the expression of ideas in an exact form and enable to understand and appreciate precision, brevity, sharpness, logical beauty and mathematics. Mathematics fulfils the educational values such as practical disciplinary cultural, intellectual, more; aesthetic, social vocational, inter-disciplinary etc. in order to realize the educational values and instructional objectives of mathematics, the subject must be practiced in class rooms by utilizing the service of traditional methods, educational innovations and technological advancements. The views of “Roger Becon” about the concept of mathematics. “Mathematics is the gate and key of sciences. Neglected of mathematics works injury to all knowledge, since he who is ignorant of it common now the other sciences or the things of the world and what is worse, men who are thus ignorant are unable to perceive their own ignorance and so do not seek a remedy.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used the descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to a critical analysis of causes and effect of mass failure in Junior Secondary School Certificate examination.
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
The Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information a critical analysis of causes and effect of mass failure in junior secondary school certificate examination. 100 staff and 100 students of 10 selected secondary schools in Awka Educational Zone were selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data collected from the respondents were analyzed in tabular form with simple percentage for easy understanding.
A total of 133(one hundred and thirty three) questionnaires were distributed and 133 questionnaires were returned.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Discussion of Findings
In summary, we have noted some causes and effects of mass failure in Junior Secondary School Certificates Examination focuses in mathematics.
Some of the causes are:
- Insufficient number of qualified teachers.
- Negative attitude of students towards mathematics.
- Shortage of instructional materials.
- Difficult nature of mathematics as perceived by the students.
- Poor student motivation in the classroom by subject teacher.
- Poor mathematics background from primary school.
- Parents
- School administrators
Furthermore, all these causes have effect towards the study:-
- In this modern world, many are still dropping out from school with unjustified reasons, and lack of self-confidence.
- Academic performance and quality of students are declining due to their inferiority compliance.
- Students being lazy and unserious with their studies.
- The ineffective teaching of mathematics places an obstacle to the technological development of Nigeria.
- Failure in mathematics can causes unnecessary diversion in choice of carrier or course selection in higher institutions.
CONCLUSION
As earlier stated, this research work was designed to find out the causes and effects of mass failure in junior secondary school certificate mathematics examination (JSSCE) in Awka educational zone. From the analysis of the data obtained, the researchers found out that shortage of instructional materials, poor students motivation in the classroom by the teachers, poor mathematics background from primary school, insufficient number of qualified teachers are the factors that causes the mass failure in Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination.
Also provision of adequate instructional material by the government to schools, teachers should motivate the students, proper use of mathematical textbooks and conducive classroom environment were some strategies that are deducted from the study that can be used to improve student academic performance. It is believed that if the points mentioned above are given urgent attention, then an improved performance of students in mathematics may be insight, teaching and learning mathematics starting from lower level of learning that is from nursery schools to the higher level of learning so that the role of the mathematics as foundation in science and technology development in Nigeria will also be recognized.
Recommendation
Mathematics Teachers
The researcher recommends mathematics teachers to consider students cultural and learning backgrounds in choosing instructional strategies. It is suggested that they align teaching methods with the assessed learning needs and capabilities of students. Teachers may attempt to find a balance of teaching strategies rather than teaching student hence few understand the subject and at last many fail the subject. They may be able to realize the importance of recognizing learning styles, identify students’ differences, and adjust the teaching methods accordingly. By doing that, teachers would be able to deliver content clearly, making every student understand mathematics, motivate students leading better performance in mathematics subject. Lastly, it is also suggested for the teachers to learn to formulate their way of teaching especially if their school do not have available facilities to support their teaching activity. They may learn to develop their profession and innovativeness in teaching in order to maximize the use of available resources of the school to improve students’ performance in mathematics subject.
Students
The study highly suggest that students take in hand their perception and feedback towards their teachers’ teaching methods in order for the teachers to effectively bring into line their way of teaching to the students’ way of learning. It is recommended that for students to learn effectively, they need to be flexible by using strategies outside their preferences in order to meet the demands of the challenging environment. Students must be ready to be guided in mathematics using learner centered methods, which is the very effective way of teaching. Student must not be lazy by not doing self-practice daily. They are also encouraged to actively participate in classroom activities in order to have an enjoyable and satisfying learning outcome
School Administrators
For school administrators, it is recommended to ensure availability of the instructional materials and facilities for the execution of different teaching methods that are aligned with the teaching methods and students’ learning in classrooms. Effective teaching and learning cannot be achieved in the absence of those instructional materials. It is also highly recommended that school leaders provide more in-service seminars, trainings and workshops for the teachers focusing more on how the teachers would enable them to align their instructional strategies they prefer and use to the learning preferences and capacities of the students. Furthermore, teachers should also be encouraged by the head of schools to pursue post graduate studies in order to upgrade their instructional competencies even if they have degrees in teaching profession. Lastly head of mathematics departments must be empowered to manage teaching and learning in mathematics. They must be provided with all guides and teaching resources
REFERENCES
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- Anagbogu M.A. (1988): Experiential Improvement of Scientific Observation Skills Among the Group of Nigeria Secondary Schools schildren, UNIBADAN Ph.D. Thesis.
- Anike M.A. (1980): An Address to Teachers’ Orientation Course on Mathematics, Oji River
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