Factors Influencing Outcomes in Mathematics in KCSE: a Case for Kandara Subcounty in Murang’a County, Kenya.

Abstract

Mathematics forms the basis for sciences, technology and engineering. A good grasp of mathematical concepts allows an individual to explore further in the field of sciences. Kenya has a long-term vision to be an industrial middle income country by the year 2030. This requires enough people knowledgeable in mathematics and in extension in sciences and engineering. However, performance in mathematics has consistently been dismal both at national level and locally, and a cause for alarm for education stakeholders as well as planners in the country. Consequently, urgent measures are needed to correct this trend. This study investigates the causes of this poor performance with regards to Kandara Sub County in Murang’a County. For several conservative years, the Sub County faced massive failures in mathematics at KCSE. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating both teacher and student attitudes towards mathematics and their influence towards performance in mathematics, how teacher training influences mathematics performance and finding out whether the availability of teaching facilities or lack thereof in Kandara SubCounty contributes to failure in mathematics. The target population for the study is 8820 respondents in 57 schools of Kandara SubCounty comprising of 307 teachers and 8513 students in form three and form four. Through random sampling, the sample comprised of 60 teachers and 300 students spread in 15 schools of the sub county. In each school, the HOD mathematics plus three teachers selected through random sampling were surveyed. Also, in each school 20 students were surveyed. The tool used for collecting data was questionnaires. Data collected was analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Findings supported the hypothesis that lack of intensive professional capacity building for mathematics teachers, negative student attitudes towards mathematics, lack of investment in teaching resources had adverse impact on mathematics performance at KCSE. The study 6 recommends that use of technology in teaching, continuous capacity building to mathematics teachers and frequent exposure and use of interactive teaching techniques to be employed to improve the performance.