The primary purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of individual student affective factors and educational background on mathematics achievement among higher education students as measured by semester grades in the core mathematics courses. Student Locus of Control, Self-Efficacy, and Mathematics Anxiety were the specific individual student affective factors that were examined in the study. Educational backgrounds of the students were examined as an attempt to explain the differences in mathematics performance at the higher education level. To achieve this, high school teacher characteristics and instructional practices in influencing students’ affective factors were examined.
All of the analyses presented were performed on data collected for the study from two institutions of higher education in Cameroon for the student participants and from high school mathematics teachers of the English-Speaking and the French-Speaking subsystems of education.
The results of the study show that student internal locus of control, high mathematics self-efficacy, and Mathematics Anxiety were associated with performance in mathematics at the higher education level. The results also revealed a high significant difference in the performance of the students in mathematics from the two educational backgrounds, the English-Speaking and French-Speaking.
The results of the study revealed that the English-Speaking subsystem of education is suffering from an acute shortage of qualified high school mathematics teachers. The results show that only 10.5% of the high school mathematics teachers who participated in the study had postgraduate qualifications as against 56.9% for mathematics teachers of the French-Speaking subsystem.
The study recommends the need to replace the present GCE Advanced Level Further Mathematics syllabus with one that reflects the view that Further Mathematics is a subject studied mainly by potential mathematics graduates. The syllabus should have, as one of its objectives, the provision of a link between High School Mathematics and University Mathematics. While improving on the syllabus and the examination system, due consideration should also be given to the problem of acute shortage of qualified high school mathematics teachers for the English-Speaking subsystem of education in Cameroon.
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background to the study
1.1.1 Cameroon as a multilingual/multicultural society
1.2 Historical perspective of the language problem
1.2.1 Geographical Features
1.2.2 Ethnolinguistic Diversity
1.2.3 Contact and influence of the west
1.2.3.1 The Portuguese Influence
1.2.3.2 Missionary Influence
1.2.3.3 German Influence
1.2.3.4 French and English Influence after World War I and the establishment of English and French
1.2.4 The Birth of the Federal Republic of Cameroon
1.3 The Education Policy in Cameroon
1.3.1 Primary and secondary school
1.3.2 Higher education
1.4 Bilingual Education Policy and Practice
1.4.1 Functioning of Bilingualism in the School System
1.4.2 Bilingualism at the Primary Level
1.4.3 Bilingualism and the Secondary Schools
1.4.4 Bilingualism at the University Level
1.5 Statement of the Problem
1.6 Purpose of the study
1.7 Objectives of the study
1.8 Research Questions
1.9 Research Hypotheses
1.10 Significance of the study
1.11 Scope and delimitation of the Study
1.12 Definition of terms
1.13 Plan of work
2.0 Introduction
2.1 The Importance of Mathematics
2.2 Theoretical Framework
2.3 The Conceptual Framework
2.4 Factors contributing to Academic Achievement
2.4.1 Cognitive skills and Intelligence
2.4.2 Affective Factors
2.4.2.1 Locus of Control
2.4.2.2 Self-Efficacy
2.4.2.3 Mathematics Anxiety
2.4.3 Instructional Practices
3.0 Introduction
3.1 The Research Design
3.2 Research Area
3.3 Population of the Study
3.4 The Study Sample
3.5 Sampling Procedure
3.6 The research instrument
3.7 Validation of the instruments
3.8 Administration of the instrument
3.9 Scoring of the instrument
3.10 Method of data analysis
3.11 Operational definition of variables
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Survey findings, descriptive statistics and frequencies
4.1.1 Survey findings for students
4.1.2 Survey findings for teachers
4.2 Research findings and verification of hypotheses
4.2.1 Student Participants
4.2.2 Teacher Participants
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Summary of the Findings
5.1.1 Research Question 1
5.1.2 Research Question 2
5.1.3 Research Question 3
5.1.4 Research Question 4
5.1.5 Research Question 5
5.1.6 Research Question 6
5.1.7 Research Question 7
5.1.8 Research Question 8
5.2 Discussion of Main Findings of the Study
5.2.1 Student Individual Affective Factors: Locus of control, Mathematics self-Efficacy and Mathematics Anxiety
5.2.2 Student Educational Background and Performance in Mathematics
5.2.3 Teacher Individual Characteristics and Instructional Practices
5.3 Conclusion
5.4 Implications and Recommendations
5.5 Recommendations for Further Research
5.6 The Limitations of the Study
Research Objective and Topics
This research aims to investigate the influence of individual student affective factors, such as Locus of Control, Self-Efficacy, and Mathematics Anxiety, as well as educational background on mathematics achievement among higher education students in Cameroon. The study seeks to explain performance disparities by examining teacher characteristics and instructional practices within the English-speaking and French-speaking educational subsystems.
- The impact of individual affective student characteristics on mathematics achievement.
- The role of educational background in explaining performance differences.
- Analysis of teacher characteristics and instructional practices in different subsystems.
- The predictive power of secondary school performance on higher education mathematics outcomes.
Excerpt from the Book
1.1 Background to the Study
Cameroon is a bilingual country with two official languages, English and French. There are over two hundred and forty other native languages. The country is divided to ten regions, two English-speaking regions and eight French-speaking regions. There are two distinct educational subsystems, the English-speaking and French-speaking school subsystems. Instruction in schools is in English for the English-speaking school subsystem and in French for the French-speaking school subsystem. There exist Bilingual Secondary Schools (in the Cameroon context) in both the English-speaking and French-speaking regions. In the Bilingual schools the English-speaking children follow the Anglo-Saxon educational system and write the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary Level after five years and GCE Advanced Level after another two years. The French- speaking children follow the francophone educational system and write the “Brevet d’Études de Premier Cycle” (BEPC) examination after four years, then Probatoire Examination after another two years and finally Baccalauréat at the end of the seventh year.
The definition of bilingualism in the context of education in Cameroon and this study derives from the constitutional provision that made French and English the official languages of Cameroon.
The official languages of the Federal Republic of Cameroon shall be French and English. (Article 1 . Constitution of the Federal Republic of Cameroon, 1961)
Summary of Chapters
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION: This chapter provides an overview of the research, outlining the context of mathematics education in Cameroon, the problem statement, objectives, and research questions guiding the study.
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE: This section examines the theoretical foundations of the research, focusing on the importance of mathematics and the impact of affective factors like locus of control, self-efficacy, and mathematics anxiety.
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: This chapter describes the research design, the study population, data collection instruments, and the analytical methods used to process the collected data.
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS: This section presents the empirical findings from the survey, including descriptive statistics, frequency distributions, and the verification of research hypotheses.
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENTATIONS: This final chapter synthesizes the results, provides conclusions regarding the study's objectives, and offers recommendations for policy and further academic research.
Keywords
Mathematics Achievement, Higher Education, Locus of Control, Self-Efficacy, Mathematics Anxiety, Educational Background, Cameroon, English-speaking subsystem, French-speaking subsystem, Instructional Practices, Teacher Effectiveness, GCE Advanced Level, Baccalauréat, Educational Policy, Affective Factors.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this dissertation?
The work focuses on investigating the factors that contribute to disparities in mathematics achievement among higher education students in Cameroon, specifically looking at the influence of affective student characteristics and educational background.
What are the central themes examined in the study?
The study covers themes such as student locus of control, mathematics self-efficacy, mathematics anxiety, educational background, and teacher instructional practices in the English-speaking and French-speaking subsystems of Cameroon.
What is the primary objective of this research?
The primary objective is to determine how individual student affective factors and educational background influence mathematics performance at the higher education level and to explore potential links between these factors and teacher practices.
Which methodology does the author employ?
The research utilizes a cross-sectional survey design using both qualitative and quantitative methods, including statistical analyses such as multiple regression and independent t-tests to test hypotheses.
What topics are discussed in the main body?
The main body covers the historical perspective of language issues in Cameroon, the theoretical framework of academic achievement, a review of related literature on affective factors, research methodology, and detailed data analysis of student and teacher characteristics.
Which keywords best characterize this research?
The research is characterized by terms like mathematics achievement, locus of control, self-efficacy, mathematics anxiety, educational background, Cameroon, and instructional practices.
How does the educational background influence the findings?
The study found that students from French-speaking educational backgrounds significantly performed better in mathematics at the higher education level compared to their counterparts from English-speaking backgrounds in both institutions studied.
What are the author’s primary recommendations?
The author recommends an urgent revision of the GCE Advanced Level Further Mathematics syllabus to better link high school and university mathematics, and addresses the critical shortage of qualified mathematics teachers in the English-speaking subsystem.
- Quote paper
- Dr. Mathew Akoko (Author), 2010, Assessment of the Effects of Affective Student Characteristics and Educational Background on Mathematics Achievement at the Level of Higher Education in Cameroon, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/172999
