THE ROLE OF GENDER ON TOPIC PREFERENCE OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MATHEMATICS
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of gender on mathematics students in Lagos State’s Mainland Local Government Area. In addition, some relevant and related literatures were reviewed under sub-headings in this study in order to address the important issues under investigation.
In this study, the research survey design was used to assess respondents’ opinions through the use of a questionnaire and a sampling technique.
A total of 160 (seventy-sixty) respondents were chosen and used in this study to represent the majority of the population. The sample included (80 males and 80 females).
In addition, two null hypotheses were developed and tested at the 0.05 level of significance using the independent t-test statistical tool. The following findings emerged from the analysis:
1. There is no statistically significant difference in the pattern of students’ preferences for senior secondary school mathematics topics.
2. Finally, after testing hypothesis two, it was discovered that there is a significant difference in the impact of gender and students’ preference for mathematics topics in school.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Study’s Background
The importance of mathematics in everyday life justifies its inclusion in all levels of education curricula. There is almost no human being, literate or illiterate, who does not use mathematical concepts in everyday life, even if he is unaware of it.
Mathematics is simply those aspects of human experience and knowledge that involve the concepts of number, quantity, and space. Mathematicians in formal educational settings have been able to translate abstract concepts into logical, systematic, and symbolic terms involving pattern and precision over time.
Physical observations are frequently better expressed in mathematical expressions, which improves understanding. There is no doubt that mathematics has cemented its place in the educational plans of the world’s nations.
Nigeria aspires to be a modern industrial society, and a developing society desiring this attribute should, according to Animalu (2000), be capable of acquiring knowledge, being service-oriented, and innovative. This is obviously only possible with a proper and solid foundation in mathematical knowledge.
Many of the scientists who made significant advances in science, such as Archimedes and Galileo, were exposed to the best mathematics education available at the time. Investing in the training of scientific and technological personnel will benefit the nation’s economic and political development, and proper mathematical education at all levels will go a long way toward realizing the goal of promoting science and technology.
It is deeply troubling, particularly for mathematics educators, that despite the prominence and importance of mathematics in all areas of human endeavor, students’ cognitive, affective, and psychomotor outcomes in mathematics fall short of expectations at all levels of the educational system.
Students’ performance in mathematics at external examinations such as Cambridge, senior school certificate (organized by WAEC and NECO), Universities Matriculation Examination (UME), and Polytechnic and Colleges of Education Examination has been improving. Mathematics educators have identified a number of factors that contribute to poor student achievement in mathematics.
According to research on student learning, learning orientations influence learning outcomes (Vermunt, 1992). Perceptions of learning environments, particularly assessment, have been shown to have a strong influence on learning orientations (Entwistle and Entwistle 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995).
Examinations and tests can sometimes stymie students’ efforts to gain personal understanding because they only show the final result and fail to reveal the individual change that has occurred (Tynjaka, 1997).
Science has long been recognized as a vehicle for technological, social, and economic development (Ogunbanjo, 1988). Mathematics is not only fundamental to these, but it is also the language of science. Mathematics is a subject that all secondary school students must study at least four times per week.
This is done to ensure that students have a thorough understanding of the subject. Despite the importance of mathematics, students typically perform poorly. As a result, it is necessary to determine which topics in mathematics students enjoy and which they dislike.
Related: Factors Undermining Secondary School Principals’ Effective Management of School Records
The West African Examination Council Chief Examiners’ Reports (1997, 1999, and 2000) revealed candidates’ mathematical strengths and weaknesses.
According to these reports, candidates showed interest in numerical statistics, algebra and algebraic processes, the four arithmetic rules, logarithms and their applications. Candidates’ interest in these topics could be attributed to their understanding of the topics, among other things.
As a result, candidates fared better in these subjects than in Geometry, Trigonometry, and Probability. Candidates’ areas of weakness and strength are not unrelated to students’ preferences for certain topics in mathematics over others. If students truly prefer some topics in mathematics over others, are these preferences gender biased?
1.2 Problem Description
Gender equity and gender differences have been raising issues in education over the last few decades (Sprinthall and Oja 1994). Despite sitting in the same classroom, reading the same textbooks, and listening to the same teacher, boys and girls are known to learn differently (Sadker and Sadker, 1994).
This suggests that gender influences many students’ educational experiences in today’s educational world. Honey, Moeller, Brunner, Bennelt, Clements, and Hawkins (1991) discovered that males and females perceive mathematics-related topics differently. They came to the conclusion that girls see mathematics-related fields as being embedded in human interaction, whereas boys see them as an extension of their power.
These opinions appear to be related to students’ preferences for certain mathematics topics in secondary school. As a result, the study sought to investigate the role of gender in students’ preferences for senior mathematics topics.
1.3 Study Purpose
The goal of this research is to:
I Research senior secondary school students’ preferences for and dislikes in mathematics topics.
(ii) Determine the empirical significance of gender on students’ preferences for mathematics topics.
1.4 Research Issues
The following questions will be addressed in this study:
I What is the pattern of students’ preferences for senior secondary school mathematics topics?
(ii) Does gender influence students’ preferences for mathematics topics?
1.5 Research Proposal
I There will be no statistically significant differences in the pattern of students’ preferences for topics in senior secondary mathematics.
(ii) There will be no statistically significant difference in the effect of gender on students’ preferences for mathematics topics.
1.6 Importance of the Research
This research will benefit students, teachers, parents, and society as a whole.
1) It will assist school counselors in exposing their students to the importance of these so-called “difficult subjects” in their future careers and the importance of mastering them by organizing career talks for them.
2) It will also be useful to authors of mathematics in using ‘gender friendly’ images and objects found in the home and school on a daily basis.
3) It will also bring to the government’s attention the importance of assisting or supporting mathematics experts by providing instructional materials for teaching those identified “difficult topics.”
4) It will also raise parental awareness or enlighten parents and the community to not look down on their female children and to see them as capable as their male children.
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THE ROLE OF GENDER ON TOPIC PREFERENCE OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MATHEMATICS
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