Browsing by Author "Mpama, Ricky Abiud"

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    Factors influencing mathematics performance in primary school pupils in Tanzania: a case study of Mtwara district
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 1984) Mpama, Ricky Abiud
    There have been numerous complaints from some Tanzanians that since independence the performance in mathematics has been poor at all educational levels. There have been complaints that pupils completing school did not know how to add, subtract, divide and multiply. It has also been the concern of the public on the girl’s poor performance in mathematics at all education levels. Poor performance in mathematics by girls is manifested in the low mathematics achievement in schools among many girls. It is this low performance of girls in schools which makes the parents as well as other concerned people ask themselves why boys are high and girls are low achievers in mathematics. There might be many reasons as to why boys score high and girls’ low marks in mathematics. Some of the possible reasons have been inefficient teaching, lack of school facilities, children’s poor health, the family background, the cultural upbringing, socioeconomic status, self concept, and age. The study had three purposes. Firstly, it sought to establish existing difference in the performance between girls and boys in mathematics subject at primary school level. Secondly, it sought to identify and establish some of the factors (home social background, home physical background, self-concept and age) supposed to cause disparities in overall performance in mathematics between boys and girls. Thirdly, the study found out the extent to which these factors cause disparities in the performance of boys and girls in mathematics in Tanzanian school. Four schools, Ligula, Rahaleo, Chikongola and Majengo, were used in the study. From each school 36 pupils (18 girls and 18 boys) from class seven were randomly chosen for the study. Thus in all 144 pupils (72 girls and 72 boys) were used in study. Class seven pupils were selected because they met the criteria required for conducting the research. These pupils were at the formal operations run on stage (12-15 years) as such they could handle mathematical tasks without difficulty; they had wide experiences academically as compared to any other primary school pupils; they had covered a variety of mathematics areas in the primary school mathematics syllabus and since they were preparing for their primary school leaving examination they would take the whole exercise seriously. There were five hypotheses of the study. The first hypothesis stipulated that there was no significant difference in performance on mathematics achievement test between girls and boys. The second hypothesis stated that home social background of a child was not related to the child’s achievement in mathematics at primary seven levels. The third hypothesis asserted that home physical background of a child was not related to the child’s achievement in mathematics at primary seven levels. The fourth hypothesis stipulated that self concept of a child was not related to the child’s achievement in mathematics at primary seven level. The fifth hypothesis stated that child’s chronological age was not related to the child’s achievement in mathematics at primary seven level. The findings of the first hypothesis showed that there was a significant difference in performance on mathematics achievement test between girls and boys. The findings of the second hypothesis indicated that home social background of a child was related to the child’s achievement in mathematics at primary seven levels. The findings of the third hypothesis showed that home physical background of a child was related to the child’s achievement in mathematics at primary seven levels. The findings of the fourth hypothesis indicated that self concept of a child was related to the child’s achievement in mathematics at primary seven level. The findings of fifth hypothesis showed that child’s chronological age was related to the child’s achievement in mathematics at primary seven levels. The findings, however, showed that the factors; home social background, home physical background, self-concept and age were operating together. Since high achievers in mathematics test were also high achievers in home social background and in self-concept questionnaires. High achievers were also older than low achievers. The findings indicated that home social background; home physical background, self-concept and age had different influences on girls and boys performances in mathematics. Since the study found out that there was some inter-relations between mathematics achievement and each f the following: home social background, home physical background, self concept and age and that these inter-relations were affected girls and boys differently, it has been recommended that girls should be more adventurous in tackling boys tasks so that they could develop constructive and analytical thinking necessary in solving mathematical problems. It has also been recommended that male teachers and fathers should identify themselves with girls in order to encourage them do mathematics. This could interest girls in mathematics