Student and Teacher Perception of Content
Difficulty in the Nigerian Senior Secondary
Mathematics Curriculum

Ibaan G.Zalmon; Nchelem R.George

doi:https://doi.org/10.14445/22315373/IJMTT-V63P521

International Journal of Mathematics Trends and Technology

Research Article | Open Access | Download PDF

Volume 63 | Number 2 | Year 2018 | Article Id. IJMTT-V63P521 | DOI : https://doi.org/10.14445/22315373/IJMTT-V63P521

Student and Teacher Perception of Content Difficulty in the Nigerian Senior Secondary Mathematics Curriculum

Ibaan G.Zalmon, Nchelem R.George

Citation :

Ibaan G.Zalmon, Nchelem R.George, "Student and Teacher Perception of Content Difficulty in the Nigerian Senior Secondary Mathematics Curriculum," International Journal of Mathematics Trends and Technology (IJMTT), vol. 63, no. 2, pp. 157-168, 2018. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/22315373/IJMTT-V63P521

Abstract

This study investigated the difficult contents in the Nigerian Senior Secondary Mathematics Curriculum (SSMC) as perceived by students and mathematics teachers in Akwa-Ibom State. The research study design was survey. The population consists of 89,561 senior secondary school students and 469 mathematics teachers drawn from 236 public secondary schools of the 31 local government areas of the State. A sample of 400 students and 216 mathematics teachers obtained from the population by Taro Yamane formula was used for the study. The relevant data were generated using the researcher designed instrument; Diagnosis and Remediation of Content Difficulty in the Senior Secondary Mathematics Curriculum (DRCDSSMC). The instrument has a reliability coefficient of 0.84 obtained by test-retest. The data gathered was analyzed using mean (Difficult; 𝑥 ≥ 2.5 and Easy; 𝑥 < 2.5), standard deviation, simple percentage and independent sample t - test. Three research questions and one hypothesis guided the study. The hypothesis was tested at 0.05 significant level. The results obtained indicated that students and mathematics teachers perceived 33% and 14% of the SSMC content difficult respectively. Students perceived geometry and introductory calculus themes difficult to learn while the mathematics teachers perceived only introductory calculus difficult to teach. Also, there exists a significant difference between students and teachers perception of content difficulty in the SSMC. Recommendations were made accordingly.

Keywords

Student, Teacher, Perception, Difficulty, Mathematics Curriculum

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