DIFFICULTIES OF HIGH School STUDENTS IN MATHEMATICS
"According to the investigation, high school
students find difficulty in solving mathematical word problem due poor reading
comprehension. The reason for this may be students' negative attitude towards
the subject, wrong interpretation of the problem or limited vocabulary to
understand word problem".
Mathematics is the study of topics such as quantity,
structure, space & change. There is
a range of views among mathematics and philosophers us to the exact scope and
definition of mathematics. A problem in
mathematics is a problem that is amendable to being represented, analyzed and
possibly solved with the methods of mathematics.
A word problem is a
mathematical exercise where significant background information on the problem
is presented as text rather than in mathematical rotation. Word problem are an integral part of the
mathematics curricular. Word problem in
mathematics often pose a challenge because they require that students read and
comprehend the text of the problem, identify the questions that needs to be
answered and finally create and solve a numerical equation. Children are often overwhelmed by word
problems not because they cannot solve these but because they do not comprehend
the problem statement due to a language barrier. As a result they often wait for the teacher
to solve the question in numerical form otherwise they misinterpret the problem statement and come up with
wrong answers. Mostly the problem is they have poor reading comprehension due
to which they find difficulty in solving word problems.
Difficulties of students in solving
mathematical word problem
The
difficulties encountered by the students in solving mathematical
word problems are
Ø Limited vocabulary to understand word problem
in mathematics.
Ø Lack of technique in solving word problems.
Ø Lack of methods used by teacher to read word
problem.
Ø Poor reading comprehension.
Ø Students doing rote learning.
Ø Negative attitude towards the subject.
Ø Lack of interest in subject.
Ø Lack of concentration.
Ø Wrong interpretation of the problem.
Ø Lack of reinforcement and motivation.
Objective
1. To know the difficulties of the students in
solving mathematical word problem.
2. To identify the reasons behind the
difficulties of the students.
3. To analyze their performance before and after
the remedies given.
4. To suggest remedial measures to improve on
the basis of their performance.
Hypothesis
From the above objective it has been hypothesized that the students find
difficulty in solving mathematical word problem due to poor reading
comprehension.
METHODOLOGY
Method
Method used was action research.
Sample
The sample for the present investigation consists of 16 students
including 3 girls and 13 boys of class VIII of Govt. H. S. S. Thrickodithanam.
Tool Used
For this investigation, a diagnostic test was
conducted in sample class.
Procedure
A pre-test was conducted among 16 students of
class VIII to know about their difficulties on that basis they are given
remedial measures and then again conducted a post-test.
The tests were conducted in
regular classroom periods and in extra classes on mathematical word problem.
Data Collection
Diagnostic test was administered on students of class VIII. Then located
the area of difficulty and proper remedial instruction were given to rectify
their problem in group.
Table
Duration
of period
|
Action
to be taken
|
Procedure
& tool used
|
Regular classroom period
|
Orientation of the students regarding the
problem.
|
By distributing a sheet of paper in which
some simple word problems given and said to read it and just only write what
is given in it.
|
2 days
|
Directing the students to write on the
given sheet at their home.
|
Requesting the teacher of the same class
not to give heavy in their subject for these two days and the parents to let
them free.
|
Regular classroom period
|
To collect sheets from the students.
|
Collecting the sheets by taking help of the
monitor of the class.
|
2 days
|
Evaluation of sheets and division of the
class into 3 groups - good, average and poor on the basis of their skill of
solving word problems.
|
Evaluation of the skill of solving word
problem on the basis of set criterion of the students.
|
1 week
|
Selecting good specimen paper of word
problem for students.
|
Referring other textbooks, guides and math
text available and collecting good specimen from other math teacher.
|
Extra class period
|
Distributing the collected specimen to the
3 groups of class already divided.
|
Classify the specimens according to the
level of difficulty into 3 groups so that they can be given separately to
students with good, average and below average.
|
2 days
|
Drill work practice or exercise.
|
Now students given problems and said that
this time not only identify the given items but also try to solve it.
|
2 days
|
Proper checking of
notebooks (collected by students)
|
The
teacher will do this work in free period.
|
Regular classroom
period.
|
Giving more problems
and solving in class and checked by teacher.
|
Students are given
more question and said to solve it in the class. Then teacher check the
improvement of the students.
|
1 week
|
Giving previous years
question papers.
|
Students are given
previous years question papers to solve.
|
Regular classroom
period
|
By organizing a
mathematics test.
|
The teacher will
conduct the test among students on solving word problem.
|
Findings And Result
From the study, it was clear
that students of class VIII has difficulty in solving mathematical word problem
due to poor reading comprehension.
Conclusion
Many students find difficulty in
mathematics. There are many areas in mathematics that is difficult for students
and the reason for it is that they are not able to understand the methods of
teaching. So to know about what are the difficulties that high school students
are facing, a teacher should conduct an investigation to solve it. Hence to
know the reason of difficulty that high school students have in solving
mathematical word problem, an investigation is conducted and the result shows
that students has difficulty in solving mathematical word problem due to poor
reading comprehension.
