The dichotomy in the distribution of educational opportunities across African countries has become a recurring phenomenon between rural and urban communities. However, the remote and rural communities seem to be bearing the brunt of uneven access to quality education than cities. Thus, improving access to quality education in remote areas where educational advantages are scarce or not available remains a great challenge in Nigeria. This study, therefore, investigated the influence of access factor (AF: Physical Access-PA and Economic Access-EA) on Quality of Secondary Education (QSE) in remote areas of Southwestern Nigeria (RASN). The study was located within a post-positivist paradigm that incorporated the convergent parallel design. The multi-level mixed methods sampling technique was adopted in selecting 467 secondary school graduates. Six participants for the Key Informant Interviews comprised three principals and three senior officials from the Teaching Service Commission and Ministry of Education from three selected states in Southwestern Nigeria. Secondary School Graduate Aptitude Test (SSGAT) and Secondary School Graduate Access Questionnaire (SSGAQ) instruments were used for data collection. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation, while qualitative data were analyzed with content analysis. The access factor with physical access (67.3percent) and economic access (61.3percent) influenced QSE. The study concluded that enhancing access to QSE should be improved in RASN.
Mathematics plays an essential role in developing human thought, particularly in developing problem-solving and reasoning. While mathematics has become a problem-solving tool in various fields, including science, it has distinct qualities known as probability and, more specifically, probability theory. For most learners, the probability is difficult to learn and conceptualize. Hence, the present study investigates learners’ misconceptions in the teaching and learning of probability in a selected school in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Underpinned by a Post-positivist paradigm, the study employed a quantitative research approach and a survey design in which data were gathered from mathematics learners from grades 10-12. Findings revealed that although the frequency of misconceptions varied across grade levels, it was difficult to describe how misconceptions about probability changed. As such, while learners progressed through the grades, some misconceptions faded with age, others remained stable, and others grew in power. The findings also revealed that the types of probability misconceptions did not differ significantly by gender, and male learners tend to have more misconceptions about probability than female learners.
Students’ learning contexts are capable of having a significant impact on their learning beliefs and academic performance. As a result, students studying during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak may be at risk of lower academic self-efficacy and subject grades. These students may also hold specific ideas regarding the impact of COVID-19-related changes on their ability to succeed, which could have a direct impact on their self-efficacy and academic performance. Thus, this study seeks to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the self-efficacy and academic performance of mathematics students in a South African university. The paper also sought to examine how teaching and learning in a mathematics education classroom can be sustained post-COVID-19 pandemic. As such, the study was underpinned by an interpretivist paradigm. The study employed a qualitative research approach and a case study design in which the participant of the study were mathematics education lecturers, heads of departments, and pre-service mathematics student-teachers registered for the 2019/20 academic session at the faculty of education in the selected university. Data for the study was collected through the use of a semi-structured interview. The findings of the study revealed that although students’ self-efficacy is adversely impacted by negative emotions like tension, the psychological strain of confinement, academic workload demands, online assessment, and the loss of relatives brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, these factors have no impact on students’ academic performance. Furthermore, findings revealed that for the teaching and learning of mathematics education to be sustained post-COVID-19 pandemic, there is a dire need for a change in curriculum as well as the pedagogical approaches. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that even though the original goal of the sudden transition in the education system was to salvage the academic year, it is now evident that maintaining teaching and learning in higher education institutions will require more than just changing instructional delivery but mathematics education lecturers should adopt the lessons learned from online instruction and develop opportunities for a hybrid approach to teaching-learning. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, Mathematics education, Performance, Self-efficacy, Sustainable
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