Improving Low Achiever Students’ Participation in Mathematics Classroom: The Case of Bule Hora University 1styear Mathematics Students

Abstract

Students’ active participation is unavoidable building block to promote learning. Therefore, active participation is realized and lively when every student contributes his/her role to the instructional process. The objective of this study is to identify factors responsible for low participation of low achiever 1^st year mathematics students and to improve their participation. Purposive sampling technique was used to select sample participant. Secondary source, observation, interview, focus group discussions and questionnaires were employed to generate data. Descriptive survey research design was employed. The results show that most of students were participating from rarely to sometimes (80%) in mathematics class room. In addition, most of students’ mathematics performance was satisfactory (50-60) on average in the preparatory school. Most of the students’ family educational background is illiterate (73%) who have engaged in laborious activities that demand the help of their students after schooling rather than advising for students’ academic success. Majority of students have negative attitude towards mathematics in that most of them agreed and strongly agreed to negative statements as well as disagreed and strongly disagreed for positive statements. Interviewed instructors also said that lower achiever students seem be hopeless in their academic carrier but they simply avail themselves in the classroom not for learning but for attendance. Generally, shyness, fear of friends’ criticism, family educational background, fear to make a mistakes, lack of back ground on the course, negative attitude for mathematics which is a key for participation, misunderstanding on the importance of mathematics and the need of more refreshment are the main factors for low participation of lower achiever students. Create awareness, giving tutorial and employing variety of teaching methods were the action plans which were implemented properly in two consecutive months. Even though, practitioners' intervention didn’t bring significant change in the first two weeks, students’ participation had increased in the second two weeks of the first month. Then after, practitioners continued their intervention and observed that students’ participation had improved to the greater extent for the last four consecutive weeks in the second month continuously. We  believe  our  findings   and intervention could  have  a  profound implication  on  academic issues  related to promoting  genuine  participation of students.

Keywords: low achiever Students, participation, action plan, implementation, evaluation

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-13-01

Publication date:May 31^st 2021