| dc.description.abstract | This thesis investigated the relationship between
Mathematical Ability and Mathematical Achievement in standard
seven pupils of Kenya. It further investigated performance differences among pupils attending different types of
schools and also between male and female pupils in
mathematics.
The study was prompted by the very little research
work done in this area in Kenya, and where some work was
done already, the results were not conclusive. The study
examined four main research questions:
1. How significant ,is the relationship between
Mathematical Achievement and Mathematical
Ability, Mathematical Achievement and
Mathematical Vocabulary, and Mathematical
Achievement and English Language Proficiency.
2. Do the scores of pupils attending the Low cost
Medium cost and High cost schools differ
significantly in Mathematical Achievement,
Mathematical Ability, Mathematical Vocabulary
and English Language Proficiency tests?
3. Do the scores of male and female pupils differ
significantly in Mathematical Achievement,
Mathematical Ability, Mathematical Vocabulary
and English Language Proficiency tests?
4. Which factors account for the variation in
performance on Mathematical Achievement test?
The subjects for this study constituted of a total of
634 standard seven pupils from 15 primary schools in Kenya.
The schools were of three types, Low Cost, Medium Cost
and High cost, all drawn from Kisumu town within a
radius of 10 kilometres, Kisumu town is in
Kisumu District in Nyanza Province, Kenya. In each
school, under normal classroom conditions, the selected
pupils were given tests on Mathematical Achievement,
Mathematical Ability, Mathematical Vocabulary and English
Language Proficiency. A questionnaire to provide information
on pupils' age, class repetition and after school coaching
in Mathematics and English was also given to the pupils.
The results of correlation analysis revealed very
strong relationship between Mathematical Achievement and
Mathematical Ability, implying that what the pupils
achieved in Mathematics was as a result of their level of
ability in Mathematics.Strong correlation were also
found between Mathematical Achievement and Mathematical
Vocabulary and between Mathematical Achievement and
English Language Proficiency.
A comparison of the scores of pupils attending low
Cost, Medium Cost and High Cost primary schools by the
One Way ANOVA technique revealed statistically significant
difference at p<OOI in favour of pupi18 in High Cost
Significant sex differences were found in Mathematical
Ability, Mathematical Achievement and Mathematical Vocabulary
in favour of male pupih but not in English Language Proficiency
This clearly showed that the female pupil have a problem in
Mathematics.
Step-wise multiple regression analysis revealed
that 62% of the variation in pupils' Mathematical Achievement
was accounted for by their level of Mathematical Ability,
Mathematical Vocabulary ,English Language Proficiency, Sex
of pupil, CIass repetition, Type of .chool and After school
Coaching in English and Mathematics.
It was concluded that differences in pupil performance
in the tests reflected differences in the 8chools the pupils
attended. Further research is therefore required to qualitatively
and quantitatively determine which factors within the school
environment are responsible for the differences in pupil
performance.
It is therefore recommended that if the potential of
our youth has to be realized fully, then equal opportunity
in education must be provided for all, and the way to do this
is to set the schools to be as equivalent in standard as'
possible | en |
