Teachers’ characteristics and students degree of errors in different content areas in senior secondary certificate examination in mathematics

Abstract

The study objective was to determine the influence mathematic teachers’ characteristics on errors made by students in different content areas. Ex-post facto design was used to study a sample of 400 students’ scripts drawn from scripts of 18,000 SS3 (senior secondary three) students that participated in the West African Examination Council (WAEC) examination; and 100 of their mathematics teachers in two Nigerian States. The sources of data were the students’ answer scripts with a redesigned marking scheme and questionnaire administered on their mathematics teachers. Students’ errors and content areas were respectively categorized into four areas for analysis. Chi-square test, ANOVA, and multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that students taught by teachers with WAEC marking experience committed fewer errors than their counterparts taught by teachers without WAEC marking experience. The mean achievement scores of students taught by WAEC examiners significantly differed from that of those taught by non-WAEC examiners. Teachers’ qualifications and competence affected the type and degree of students’ errors. It is recommended were that mathematics teachers should be encouraged to attend WAEC script-marking workshop (tagged “coordination”), even if they may not participatee the actual marking, and regular workshops and seminars be organized for mathematics teachers.

Keywords: Teacher Characteristics, Student Errors, Content Areas, Error Types, Mathematics