Factors associated with poor performance of learners in mathematics and physical science in secondary schools in Soshanguve, South Africa

Makgato, Moses

doi:10.1080/18146620701412183

Cited by 28 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…They feel unappreciated by their teachers in terms of efforts they put into their school work and they experience no drive for hard work because they feel they are not treated with respect. These results support the findings by other researchers (Al-Agili et al, 2012;Makgato, 2007;Ogbonnaya & Osiki, 2007). Learners from HPS share common characteristics, such as being very positive about themselves and their ability to do mathematics, being well motivated and knowing what they want to do after grade 12.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…In a different study, also in Lesotho, Nenty (2010) reports that, while the gender of students had no significant influence on students' poor performance in mathematics, the person with whom the students were living, students' preferred occupation after school, the type of proprietor of the school and preferred classroom seating zone during mathematics lessons all had significant influence on performance. Makgato (2007) conducted a study that is similar to ours. He focused on the learners' and educators' perceptions of why learners perform badly in grade 11 and 12 mathematics and physical science.…”

Section: Review Of Research On Factors Related To Mathematics Performmentioning

confidence: 65%

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Perceptions of Teachers and Learners about Factors that Facilitate Learners' Performance in Mathematics in South Africa

Tsanwani

Harding

Engelbrecht

et al. 2014

African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technol

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Under-performance in mathematics is a challenge in South African schools. The purpose of this study is to advance views expressed by teachers and learners on factors that facilitate learners' performance in mathematics. The participants in this research were educators and learners from historically disadvantaged schools from similar socio-economic backgrounds in the Limpopo Province. Ten rural schools participated in the study, all government schools, with schools selected on the basis of their accessibility and performance. They represent both high-performing and low-performing schools in mathematics. Data were collected from learner focus group interviews and individual teacher interviews. Perceptions expressed by educators and learners from high-achieving schools and from low-achieving schools are juxtaposed and point to factors such as learners' and teachers' commitment and motivation, attitudes and self-concept, learners' career prospects, learners' perceptions of peers and teachers and teachers' perceptions of learners. These factors appear to influence disadvantaged learners' decisions to persist and achieve in mathematics despite their difficult circumstances.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Review Of Research On Factors Related To Mathematics Performmentioning

confidence: 65%

Perceptions of Teachers and Learners about Factors that Facilitate Learners' Performance in Mathematics in South Africa

Tsanwani

Harding

Engelbrecht

et al. 2014

African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, the sample used by Nonis et al (1998) comprised business students from a non-African background. Is this though the case for traditional African students (black students who have English as their second language) who do struggle with time management skills according to Agar (1990) and Makgato (2007)? This article therefore attempts to link time management to the academic achievement of black engineering students in a design module termed Design Projects III (DES3), which is offered at a university of technology in the Republic of South Africa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Exploring the relationship between time management skills and the academic achievement of African engineering students – a case study

Swart

Lombard

Jager

2009

European Journal of Engineering Education

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Poor academic success by African engineering students is currently experienced in many higher educational institutions, contributing to lower financial subsidies by local governments. One of the contributing factors to this low academic success may be the poor time management skills of these students. This article endeavours to explore this relationship by means of a theoretical literature review and an empirical study. Numerous studies have been conducted in this regard, but with mixed results. The case study of this article involves a design module termed Design Projects III, where the empirical study incorporated an ex post facto study involving a pre-experimental/exploratory design using descriptive statistics. The results of this study were applied to various tests, which indicated no statistically significant relationship between time management skills and the academic achievement of African engineering students.

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“…As STEM education is in its infancy in South African's high schools, it is faced with many challenges resulting in learners' poor performance at the matriculation level [4,8], especially in rural areas. Makgato [6] attributed this poor performance in STEM-related subjects in rural areas to lack of learning materials, science laboratory and equipment to promote effective teaching and learning. Lack of parental involvement in their children's education also contributes to learners' poor performance in STEM-related subjects [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Rural Parents’ Behavioral Intention to Allow Their Children to Use Mobile Learning

Mutambara¹,

Bayaga²

2020

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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Faced with many challenges resulting in learners' poor performance at the matriculation level, emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education is in its infancy in South African's high schools. However, studies have shown that mobile learning (m-learning) can be used to mitigate the challenges of STEM education. Despite, the benefits of mobile learning to rural STEM learners, its full potential has not been realized because the adoption of m-learning depends on users' acceptance. Prior studies focused on teachers' and learners' acceptance of mobile learning. However, little is known about parents' acceptance of m-learning, especially in rural areas. This study explores the acceptance of m-learning by parents of rural high school STEM learners. The study proposes the parents' acceptance of m-learning model, which extends the technology acceptance model by introducing perceived social influence and perceived resources. Stratified random sampling was used to select 200 parents in the survey. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PSL-SEM) was used to analyze data from 129 valid questionnaires. The proposed model explained 41% of the variance in parents' acceptance of mobile learning. Attitude towards the use was found to be the best predictor and the only factor that have a direct effect on behavioral intention to use mobile learning. However, all other factors have an indirect influence on behavioral intention. The findings revealed that for mobile learning to be successfully implemented in rural areas, resources need to be provided.

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Factors associated with poor performance of learners in mathematics and physical science in secondary schools in Soshanguve, South Africa

Cited by 28 publications

References 6 publications

Perceptions of Teachers and Learners about Factors that Facilitate Learners' Performance in Mathematics in South Africa

Perceptions of Teachers and Learners about Factors that Facilitate Learners' Performance in Mathematics in South Africa

Exploring the relationship between time management skills and the academic achievement of African engineering students – a case study

Understanding Rural Parents’ Behavioral Intention to Allow Their Children to Use Mobile Learning

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