An Exploratory Study of Mathematics Teaching and Learning in Ghana: Hearing Students’ Voices

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory study was to explore the views of junior high school students (12-14 years) on the nature of their mathematics lessons and some of the challenges they face when learning mathematics. The study involved 21 students from 3 junior high schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana. The data collection instrument was a semi-structured questionnaire, which was administered to the 21 students. The data from the questionnaire was arranged serially and coded, after which it was fed into the computer and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study revealed that most of the students who took part in the study experience mathematics in the traditional way, where they have to sit back and listen to their teacher with little or no active participation in the teaching and learning process. In addition to this, the study revealed that students encounter many challenges learning mathematics both at school and at home, and these challenges were threefold: student, school and home related challenges. Though the respondents indicated that there are some personal and home-related challenges which impact on their learning and understanding of mathematics, there are also common challenges that related to classroom factors. The results from the study suggest that there is the need for further research in the area to understand the holistic views of students on the teaching and learning of mathematics, in our quest for improving the teaching and learning of the subject