Assisting Students of Sege Community JHS One to Change Simple Fractions to Percentages
ABSTRACT
The study was carried at Sege Community JHS One (1). The researcher identified a problem when her mentor taught the topic “changing simple fractions to percentage fractions and vice versa in JHS One (1). After the lesson, she observed that majority of the students scored below average out of the five evaluation questions given them. The study was designed to help improve students’ performance in changing simple fractions to percentage fractions and vice versa, using 10 × 10 grid and percentage charts. The researcher used action research design to investigate into the problem. The total population of the class was forty (40) of which the sample size chosen was twenty (20). Purposive sampling technique was used to select the students for the study. The researcher used observation, interview and test as instruments. Frequency distribution tables, pie charts and bar graphs were used for the analysis of the data collected. Teaching and learning materials which were 10 × 10 grid, paper shading and percentage chart were used to help students to overcome the problem. This project produced positive result because the students were able to change simple fractions to percentage fractions and percentage fractions to simple fractions through the use of teaching and learning materials. The study revealed that the class teacher did not use TLMs in delivering the lesson. The researcher wishes to recommend to teachers to use TLMs in teaching mathematics especially the concept of changing simple fractions to percentage fractions and vice versa.
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
This chapter begins with background to the study, followed with statement of the problem, statement of purpose and objectives of the study. Attention was also given to research questions, significance of the study, limitations, delimitations, organization and finally definitions of terms.
Sege is a community located in the Ada West District of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The people of Sege are predominantly farmers and traders. The ideas of mathematics are variously used in the lives of the people of Sege. Undoubtedly, one will argue that not only the traders and farmers of Sege use the ideas and concepts of mathematics in their everyday lives but also one would expect that their children/wards are taught in such a way that would inspire, arouse and even sustain the children’s interest in the subject.Laying a strong mathematical foundation in the formative years of these young ones would presumably demystify the study of mathematics and resolve some real life problem.
Asafo Adjei (2002) sees mathematics as the act of finding answers to problems and using one’s knowledge of shapes and measurement, calculation and thinking in everyday life. James & James (2001) also sees mathematics as the science of logical study of numbers, shape, arrangement, quantity, measure and many related concepts. These are embedded in our everyday life.
In consequences therefore, students need to be helped to develop mathematical problem solving skill, investigating, abstracting and generalizing so that they could function effectively in the society. They would also need to acquire mathematical operational computations addition, multiplication, subtraction and division.
Percentages and fractions without doubt are some of the fundamental areas of mathematics education in the school child’s life. Students share play objects at school and home. Not only do they share material things such as food, candies space and reading materials at school but also one would arguably expect that the school child would allocate or share the time required for him or her in an examination in other to judiciously answer the questions put before him or her during their exams period and under all the circumstances, the student would require the knowledge of not only percentages but also fractions as well.
Despite the important roles that the concepts of percentages and factions play in the educational development of the school child’s life, students of Sege Community JHS One
(1) are unable to compute mathematical operations involving changing fractions into percentages and percentages into fractions. Probably, after teaching these students at school, they do not practice at home and due to the tight schedule on the part of their parents, it was envisage that parents do not spend enough time in supervising their children’s home works and these might have accounted for their poor performance with regards to the concepts of changing fractions into percentages and vice versa. It was suspected that teachers do not use the appropriate pedagogical approaches and strategies. Hence, the students find it difficult to grasp the concepts of changing fractions into percentages and vice versa.
This problem attracted the interest of the researcher to use ten by ten grids (10 × 10 grids) and percentage charts to assist students of Sege Community JHS One (1) grasp the concept of changing fractions into percentages and percentages into fractions.
However various studies have been conducted on the consistencies or otherwise of mathematics performances of students. According to Ilgent and Pulakos (1999) the factors that influences mathematics performances are very crucial to individuals, teachers and organizations.
To Graham (1994) and Campbell (1990) mathematics performance is related to ones aspirations and is regarded as a core concept within any setting or task. More so Constantine, Cruz, and Lenning (1962) posits that developing a students’ mathematics performance is a journey and the level of performance describes the location in the journey.
In measuring and defining the scope of the study, various academic performance theories such as the Assessment theory (Shirley, 2011), the learning and cognitive theory (Demmert & Towner, 2003), the selection theory (Cziko,1995) and expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964) coupled with empirical studies conducted by researchers in Ghana and beyond was reviewed.
Statement of the Problem
A two-week consistent presence at Sege community JHS One (1), the researcher observed during a mathematics lesson that about eighty percent (80%) of the students obtained low marks in an evaluation exercise. The researcher therefore, decided to design a strategy to assist students to overcome the difficulty of changing fractions to percentages and vice versa.
In addition, researchers (such as Ardia, Turbany, Cosculluela, & Barrios, 2006; Cody, College, & York, 2001; Li, 2012; Madsen, Becker, & Thomas, 1968; Was, 2006) hitherto studied in related areas to find the factors that influence student’ mathematics related performances at various levels of education in Ghana and beyond but very few or none of these studies have focused on an analysis on JHS students’ ability to overcome the difficulty of changing simple fractions to percentages and vice versa. This knowledge gap has necessitated the need to undertake this study so as to bridge the knowledge gap.
Purpose of the Study
The ultimate purpose of this study was to help Students of Sege Community JHS One (1) change fractions into percentages and percentages into fractions.
Objectives of the study
- What are the possible root causes of Sege Community JHS One (1) students’ difficulties in changing fractions into percentages
- What are the causes why students of Sege Community JHS One (1) are unable to change fractions into percentages?
- How will students of Sege Community JHS One (1) use 10X10 grids to change fractions into percentages.
Research Questions
- What are the possible root causes of Sege Community JHS One (1 students’ difficulties in changing fractions into percentages and percentages into fractions?
- What are the causes why students of Sege Community JHS are unable to change fractions into percentages and vice versa?
- How will students of Sege Community JHS use 10X10 grids to change fractions into percentages and vice versa?
Significance of the study
The outcome of this will help students, teaches, curriculum developers and other researcher who would like to delve into the same area of study.
- The result of the study will arouse and sustain the interest of the students in the study of mathematics. It will also help to demystify mathematics and boost the pupil’s enthusiasm in the study of percentage and
- The study will provide teachers of mathematics with the necessary pedagogy in the teaching of fractions and percentages at every
- It is further envisaged that the results or outcome of this study will probably serve as a guide to curriculum developers and policy makers in the construction of curricular school children in that
- Finally the study is hoped to serve as a reference to all who would want to replicate the same research in the same locale for validity and reliability purposes.
Limitations
Below are some of the limitations of the study which will affect the results of the study.
- Respondents were unwilling to respond to the interview
- Some students did not want to take part in the test for fear of being mocked by their colleagues should they get lower
- Some students deliberately absented themselves during the intervention phase on the resurface at the end of the study. (They absented themselves from school for a while).
Delimitations
The research or study was confined to Sege Community JHS, precisely JHS One (1) Class. The study was further limited to changing percentages into fractions and fractions into percentages.
Definition of Terms
Vice versa – from percentages to fractions
Locale – same field or area of study
Lackadaisical – unwillingness
Demystify – make it easy and understandable
Organization of the Study
Chapter one of the study comprises of background to the study, statement of the problem, purpose, objectives and research questions, significance of the study, limitations, delimitations and definitions of terms.
Chapter two reviewed related literature to the topic
Chapter three talks about methodology and data collection procedure Chapter four presented and analyze data and discuss the findings
Finally, chapter five summarized the whole work and recommendations made.
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