International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) | Volume IV, Issue XI, November 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

The Impact of Mathematical Terminologies on the Understanding of Mathematics in Senior Secondary Schools in Yobe State. 

 Haruna Usman Idriss, Abubakar Aliyu, Shitu Lau-Lau Waziri, & Jummai Adamu
Umar Suleiman College of Education Gashua Yobe State Nigeria

Abstract
The study examined the impact of mathematical terminologies on students understanding of mathematics in senior secondary schools in Yobe State. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The target population comprising all teachers of mathematics in the selected schools and some randomly selected students within the schools. The research questions were answered using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation). The population of the study was 3,522 participants comprising 48 principals and 3,474 Teachers of senior secondary schools within the three education zones of Yobe State. Based on the result there is a barrier between the students and the teachers in terms of the application of mathematical terminologies. Also the result shows that setting examination, question using mathematical terminologies is not a problem and not be the cause of mass failure in schoolsthe study encourages teachers to increase the use of mathematical terms in setting examination questions. Another result shows that majority of the terminologies used are subtraction, multiplication and addition, complicating terminologies such as COSINE, TANGENT and SINE are commonly avoided and this is an indication that even the teachers are not well equipped with the knowledge of the terms making application vague. The result of the analysis contradicts the well-known beliefs that, the teachers are not giving much attention to the concepts of terminology in teaching and learning mathematics. The result from attempt to improve the use of the terms in schools shows that there is a need to organize workshop and conferences for teachers in order to equip them with the use of mathematical terminologies in teaching and learning process.Make a subject called mathematical terminologies at lower level of education and introduce to all schools, there should be special teachers for training students on the use of mathematical terminologies.

Introduction
Education is a key aspect of life and a necessary for critical reasoning ability, it has an integral role in determining the quality of life, research has shown that quality education defines humanmoral and social values, and it has come to stay as an instrument for economic growth and productivity (Salleh et al., 2016). A society with an acceptable level of development attends its height by using education as a tool. Interestingly education has brought science and technology to stay which becomes the catapult of growth and development in Nigeria and the world at large. Imagine life without science and technology and look at what we have today. It’s worth respecting that the bedrock of science and technology is mathematics.Mathematics has cut across all science fields including medicine, biotechnology, anatomy, nursing, engineering, computer and many more.It has become the heart of many reputable careers and successful lives for societal development (Nkonde et al., 2018). Mathematics is about solution finding or problem solving it’s a system of rigorous practices that brings out the virtue of critical thinking and results in logical reasoning and problem solving skills. Therefore it is necessary to step up efforts that will boost the understanding mathematical concepts in the 21st century. In Nigeria mathematics has become a pre-requisite requirement for entry into higher institution of learning because of the value added to it. In 2019 during the national mathematics conference it was agreed that lets all institution regardless of region be giving equal educational opportunities and mathematics as a standard and most be included in the curriculum at all levels (Lin et al., 2018).
Mathematics is a language on its own. There are peculiar terminologies use to describe a process. According to Mbugua (2012) mathematical terminology is a system of communication which involves its own mathematical symbols and equations