The Existing Culture of Mathematics Teaching and Learning: A Case of the Senior High Schools in Ghana

Abstract

One of the goals of the 1987 education reforms in Ghana is to enable all school going-children in the country to have the practical skills in mathematics, understanding the concept, and to help them to overcome the day to day challenges involving calculable situations. Among the major causes of fears in students learning mathematics at secondary levels is the culture of mathematics teaching and learning. Students’ acquiring practical skills in mathematics learning had an influence on their views. The formation of their views also have an impact on their learning situations, which one way or the other determine how mathematics is learnt. The purpose of the current study is to assess the existing culture of teaching and learning mathematics in the Second cycles’ schools in the context of students’ perceptions. The descriptive survey design was used for the study. Questionnaire was used to collect data from 1288 respondents using systematic sampling procedure. Data was analysed using frequency, percentages, reliability index and correlation coefficient. Results of the study revealed that the teaching of mathematics have had an impact on the graduates’ performance over the years. It also depicts substantial trends of changes and attitudes towards learning mathematics across class levels. The study recommends that teachers should give enough homework/class exercise to students, mark them and give feedback to students as early as possible. In service training should also be given to mathematics teachers to up-date their skills. Finally the Monitoring and Evaluation teams in the Ghana education Service should intensify their supervision roles.