The attributes of mathematics learning which Ghanaian senior high school students value

Abstract

Valuing constitutes an important aspect of mathematics pedagogy and hence student learning outcomes. This study surveyed 416 students from Cape Coast, Ghana to explore what senior high school students in this country in West Africa valued in their study of mathematics. The data collected were analyzed using principal component analysis. The results suggest that Ghanaian senior high school students found connections, understanding, fluency, learning technologies, feedback, instructional materials, open-endedness and problem-solving important in their mathematics learning. Implications of the findings for curriculum delivery in mathematics and future research opportunities are also discussed.

Values in college mathematics learning: Student teachers’ preference

“…These qualities are exploration , connection , understanding , and fluency , from highest to least in terms of the proportion of variation explained. These attributes that student teachers value regarding mathematics learning were consistent with some of the attributes Davis et al's (2021) study found among senior high school students in Ghana. Davis et al (2021) found among other things that Ghanaian senior high school students deemed connections , understanding , and fluency vital in their mathematics learning.…”

“…Student teachers at this tertiary institution value exploration, connections, understanding, and fluency in their study of college mathematics. These qualities largely align with some of the valuing reported by senior high school students in Ghana (see Davis et al, 2021). Our investigation of whether a statistically significant difference exists in what student teachers value across grade levels using one-way MANOVA revealed a statistically significant difference in what student teachers value in college mathematics learning across class levels.…”

“…These attributes that student teachers value regarding mathematics learning were consistent with some of the attributes Davis et al's (2021) study found among senior high school students in Ghana. Davis et al (2021) found among other things that Ghanaian senior high school students deemed connections, understanding, and fluency vital in their mathematics learning. These findings are quite not surprising since these senior high school students are the ones who complete school and get admitted into tertiary education (College) to pursue their teacher education programs.…”

“…Relatively, value is a recent field of research in mathematics education compared to other affective mathematics variables like beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions. In spite of the dearth of empirical research, there is evidence of valuing research globally (Davis et al, 2019;Davis et al, 2021;Dede, 2006;Seah et al, 2017aSeah et al, , 2017b.…”

“…Thus, it was discovered that students' values for mathematics varied significantly between grade levels and also between primary, junior high, and senior high schools. In their recent study, Davis et al (2021) polled 416 senior high school students from Cape Coast, Ghana to find out what they valued most about their mathematical education. Principal component analysis was used to assess the collected data.…”