Teachers' Perspectives on the Difficulties Learners Face When Solving Mathematical Word Problems Among Grade Seven Learners in Cheptiret Zone, Uasin-Gishu County, Kenya

The performance of learners in mathematics continues to be abysmally low as seen from the national examination results, and word problems are still the greatest challenge faced by learners in Junior school. The teachers' observations of students' interactions with mathematical language are essential for understanding and investigating the challenges students face in tackling mathematical word problems. The study was conducted among grade seven learners and their mathematics teachers at Cheptiret Zone, Uasin-Gishu County, Kenya and was guided by the third objective of a broad research project which aimed at determining teachers' perspectives on challenges learners face when solving word problems in mathematics. This study used a descriptive survey research design. The fifteen mathematics teachers in the sampled schools were carefully selected using purposive sampling techniques and they were asked to respond the structured questionnaire and the follow-up interview schedule. Descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage) was used to analyze the data which was presented in tables. The reliability of the research instruments was measured using Cronbach's Alpha coefficient and the sub scale of the teachers' perspective obtained Cronbach's alpha coefficient is greater than 0.7. The results showed that most teachers find solving word problems in mathematics difficult, that mathematical language is one of the reasons for the difficulty most teachers faced, and that most teachers adapted to varying their methods of teaching and actively encouraged learners to have positive attitudes towards mathematics. Learners' carelessness, lack of comprehension and transformation of text into mathematical operations were other common challenges that were identified by teachers. The study concludes that teachers' perceptions support the importance of mathematical language as a hindrance for problem solving in the learner and suggests that teachers should have ongoing professional development in mathematical-language pedagogy, use of simplified language in teaching, and collaborative teaching to improve the word problem solving ability in learners.
Key words: mathematical language, word problems, teachers' perspectives, problem solving, class seven learners
 

Mathematics

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