‘Students find math activities difficult’
Mr Godwin Ekojah, a mathematics teacher at Capville Schools Abuja, says students have an aversion to math lessons that involve practical activities.
Over the years there have been mass failures in mathematics, where do you think the problem lies?
There are factors that could be responsible for such problems; first, is the foundation. There are children who were not given a good foundation in mathematics especially the rudiments, so when they come up with that kind of shaky foundation it could lead to failure at the secondary school level. Secondly, there is this phobia that students have for mathematics; even on hearing the word ‘mathematics’ they become scared.
Another factor is lack of teachers that are committed to teaching the subject. If you don’t have enough teachers that really have the skill in communicating numbers to the children, but those that just take teaching as a second job, at the slightest opportunity, they will leave teaching for another job. That could lead to failure as a result of lack of commitment.
Lastly, on the part of the student, it is lack of hard work; where he or she is lazy it becomes a problem to even to copy notes. I usually tell my students that as the teacher is teaching, they should listen and take notes because over time your brain is conditioned to forget, but you can go through your notes later. So students have to do their own part and go the extra mile; they should be encouraged to work hard.
What are some of the topics in mathematics that students find difficult to solve?
They are topics that involve activities, such as the use of instruments and running the eye to and fro to read numbers. Topics on construction are also difficult to students. In some instances, if you ask students to buy mathematical set they won’t even though their parents have the money. The instrument you are manipulating to make the psychomotor is very important and those are areas that WAEC gives more marks. If you don’t have instrument and the teacher has his, the teacher is handicap because you must use the instrument in the exam.
In all the schools I have taught, I discovered that it is a problem to persuade students to get working materials.
Another thing is topics on graphs like quadratic graphs, statistics graphs, trigonometric graphs, to which WAEC also apportions more marks. These are also challenging because some students don’t like buying graph books.
Lastly, students find it difficult to use four figure tables. There are areas where they will say without the use of calculators, calculate using the four figure table. Some don’t even have it. So it takes disciplined teachers to really enforce this, which I have been doing with some of my colleagues.
How would students with mathematics?
you advise phobia in
The first thing is for them to throw away their phobia by confronting mathematics directly and making some positive statements that mathematics is simple. ‘I can do it if other people have succeeded in doing it’, ‘I can also succeed’ and then get down to the rudiments and start working hard.
Students should also make mathematics teachers their friends; because of the phobia, they don’t like the teachers. Mathematics is easy to pass, even more than English language.
What do you have to say in terms of the uncommitted teachers?
The school owners should motivate teachers by raising their pay. Teachers too should be patient with the students and be committed to their work.
Would you recommend any mathematics book to help students with the phobia?
There are good mathematics books and I cannot concentrate on one, because what one has the other may not have. Students need a lot of books so that the information that is not explained in one you can get in another.
I can encourage students to lay their hands on books that are more explicit and contain questions that after reading new concept you will be able to solve.