EARCOME 7 The 7th ICMI-‐East Asia Conference on Mathema8cs Educa8on In Pursuit of Quality Mathema8cs Educa8on for All Cebu City, Philippines 11 – 15 May 2015
Factors Affecting Students’ Performance in Mathematics : Case Studies in Three Primary Schools Masitah Shahrill, Nor Azura Abdullah & Hjh Jamilah Hj Mohd Yusof
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education Universiti Brunei Darussalam Brunei Darussalam
Brunei Darussalam
Area: 5,765 sq km
Popula0on: 411,000 (2014 es?mate, JPKE)
Income per capita: $51,600 (2010, 8th) No income tax in Brunei
Brunei Darussalam
Secondary Schools: 30 Primary Schools: 122
Singapore
Districts: Brunei-‐Muara, Tutong, Belait, Temburong Source: hIp://www.indexmundi.com/brunei/demographics_profile.html 2
Education in Brunei Darussalam
SPN21: Sistem Pendidikan Negara Abad Ke-21 (The National Education System for the 21st Century) This system makes provision for several major educational changes.
Help to develop young people to be academically excellent, charismatic, disciplined, high-spirited, visionary, resilient and responsible citizens. 3
Introduction The rationale for the focus on teachers and teaching draws from the fact that teachers play an important role in enabling students to acquire numeracy skills through the implementation of the newly reformed national education curriculum (SPN21) in Brunei Darussalam.
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Introduction This research1 was part of a larger study that encompassed the entire population of 326 teachers for Mathematics for upper primary classes in all government primary schools in Brunei Darussalam. One of the aims of the nationwide survey were to examine upper primary mathematics teachers’ beliefs and perceptions in teaching and learning that guide them in their day-‐to-‐day teaching. To augment the primary quantitative Hindings of the survey, three case studies for the Mathematics subject strand provided qualitative data to develop vignettes or snapshots of classroom practice. 5
1 Report to the Ministry, and refer to the References
The Study The main purpose of this study is to identify the factors that may have contributed to the students’ low, medium and high achieving performances in mathematics in three case study primary schools in Brunei Darussalam. The government schools in Brunei Darussalam, namely School A, School B and School C, were chosen by purposive sampling based on the overall Year 6 national primary school assessment results for mathematics. 6
The Case Study Schools
School A is a representative of non-‐elite high performing schools. • 97.2% pass rate with 6 out of the 36 candidates obtaining Grade As.
School B is a representative of performing schools. • 85.1% pass rate with 7 out of the total of 74 candidates obtaining Grade As.
School C is a representative of low performing schools in the nation.
• The pass rate was 51% with 4 out of the total of 100 candidates obtaining Grade As. 7
The Teachers School
Teacher
Year
No. of Students
Topic of Lesson
5
20
Area of Triangles
A
Female, Dip. in Pri Ed, 8 years teaching experience Male, BA in Pri Ed, 5 years teaching experience
6
22
Average
Female, Teacher background not available
5
33
Angles (Acute, Obtuse and Right angles)
Female, Teacher background not available
6
33
Coordinates
Female, Cert. in Ed, 30 years teaching experience
5
23
Area of a Square and Area of a Rectangle
Female, B.Ed in Pri Ed, 30 years teaching experience
6
15
Average
B
C
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Methodology Research Focus
Data Collection Tools
JustiHication
Teaching in a lesson
• Video-‐records and Explore teacher’s transcripts thoughts in relation to • Teacher interviews the lesson observed • Lesson plans
Learning in a lesson
• Students’ interviews Obtain views on the • Outputs of focal experience of the lesson students’ work
Teaching in an Interviews with institutional principal and subject context coordinator 9
Gain insights of the teaching of the subject in the school
Summary of Findings Case Study Schools
A
Factors
JustiHication
Enabling factor: The Principal’s active participation • The Principal (direct and indirect) promotes the • Teachers’ commitment increase in teachers’ commitment Students had to create their own carnival game. There were not instructed.
B
Enabling factor: • Centred towards the Principal’s • The Principal directive instructions • Teachers’ Students used their commitment • Teachers are active in organising knowledge in probability and implementing activities to create a carnival game.
C
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Constraining factor: • Unable to read and understand • The innovation Pupils’ Aasbility mathematical concepts It required students havePto conduct • The arents the • Parents’ lack of co-‐operation game during Family Day. Enabling factor: • Principal acts as a role model to • The Principal teachers which may have led to • Teachers’ commitment teachers’ commitment
Conclusion: Factors Affecting Students’ Performance in Mathematics Ø The enabling factors that may have affected the students’ performances in Mathematics, based on the three case study schools, are observed to originate from a combination of different reasons. Ø The high support and involvement of the principal, both directly and indirectly to the Mathematics teachers, in some ways, may have affected the students’ performance. Ø In effect, it increases teachers’ commitment to teaching by agreeably giving extra help to the students outside their normal school hours, readily support school’s extracurricular Mathematics activities, and be well informed with the teaching and learning of Mathematics through professional practice developments.
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Conclusion: Factors Affecting Students’ Performance in Mathematics Ø The Mathematics teachers that were observed considered that their students’ understanding of conceptual and procedural knowledge in the four main operations of addition, subtraction, division and multiplication will enable or hinder their performance in Mathematics. Ø It was also observed that students’ literacy abilities in understanding the mathematics problems may also play an important factor to their Mathematics performance. Ø Parental involvement, on the other hand, is another factor that may have affected students’ performance in Mathematics. Their dedication to support their child’s extra mathematics activities, obligation to school’s Parent Teacher Meetings (PTM), and their effort to understand mathematics concepts may also have some inHluence to their child’s learning of Mathematics. 12
References
(The Report & the Papers presented at International Conferences) Shahrill, M., Abdullah, N. A., & Yusof, J. (2014). Research Report: Teachers and Teaching of Mathematics in Primary Schools in Brunei Darussalam. Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam.
Shahrill, M., Abdullah, N. A., Yusof, J., & Suhaili, A. S. (2014). Informing the practice of teaching mathematics in upper primary classes. In I. Sahin, S. A. Kiray, & S. Alan (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Education in Mathematics, Science & Technology (pp. 168-‐172). Konya, Turkey: Necmettin Erbakan University.
Shahrill, M., Abdullah, N. A., & Yusof, J. (2014). The professional teaching practices of upper primary mathematics teachers. Paper presented at the Asia PaciHic Educational Research Association & the Hong Kong Educational Research Association (APERA – HKERA) International Conference 2014, Hong Kong, China, 19-‐21 November 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/2.1.2835.4889
Abdullah, N. A., Shahrill, M., & Yusof, J. (2014). Examining the professional development experiences and needs of upper primary mathematics teachers. Paper presented at the Asia PaciHic Educational Research Association & the Hong Kong Educational Research Association (APERA – HKERA) International Conference 2014, Hong Kong, China, 19-‐21 November 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/2.1.3752.9920
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Abdullah, N. A., Shahrill, M., & Yusof, J. (2014). Investigating upper primary mathematics teachers’ beliefs and perceptions in teaching and learning. Paper presented at the Asia PaciHic Educational Research Association & the Hong Kong Educational Research Association (APERA – HKERA) International Conference 2014, Hong Kong, China, 19-‐21 November 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/2.1.4801.5685
Acknowledgment This research was part of a larger project by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, Universiti Brunei Darussalam and Institut Teknologi Brunei.
THANK YOU
Acknowledgment Appreciation Ms Georgina Chua Ling Ling (MTeach Sec Ed Maths TC from Cohort January 2015) in assisting with the preparation. Masitah Shahrill (
[email protected]) Nor Azura Hj Abdullah (
[email protected]) Hjh Jamilah Hj Mohd Yusof (
[email protected]) 14
