‘Mathematics Achievement in Crisis’: Modelling the Influence of Teacher Knowledge and Experience in Senior High Schools in Ghana
Mathematics achievement in senior high schools (SHS) in Ghana is not encouraging and this has become a concern for major stakeholders. Several studies have been conducted to provide information to understand the issue of poor mathematics achievement. Of all the studies, areas regarding the joint inf...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
De Gruyter
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Open Education Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/edu-2020-0129 |
| _version_ | 1818729101764067328 |
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| author | Ansah Joseph Kweku Quansah Frank Nugba Regina Mawusi |
| author_facet | Ansah Joseph Kweku Quansah Frank Nugba Regina Mawusi |
| author_sort | Ansah Joseph Kweku |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mathematics achievement in senior high schools (SHS) in Ghana is not encouraging and this has become a concern for major stakeholders. Several studies have been conducted to provide information to understand the issue of poor mathematics achievement. Of all the studies, areas regarding the joint influence of experience, pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and subject matter knowledge (SMK) have been less explored in Ghana. In this study, the interplay among these variables is examined in an attempt to explain the variances in students’ mathematics achievement. To achieve this purpose, 210 SHS teachers and 8,400 students in SHS across the country were surveyed and subsequently administered tasks on algebra taking into consideration the variables of interest. The study revealed that teacher knowledge and teaching experience significantly influenced students’ mathematics achievement. It was discovered that PCK had a significant indirect effect on students’ mathematics achievement through teachers’ SMK. The findings also showed that experience did not significantly moderate the relationship between teachers’ SMK and students’ mathematics achievement. The study, based on the outcome, made conclusions and recommendations for practice. Suggestions for the implementation of future studies were also highlighted. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T22:40:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5148fde55f304364a232bd9a8fb3173a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2544-7831 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T22:40:32Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Education Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-5148fde55f304364a232bd9a8fb3173a2022-12-21T21:29:58ZengDe GruyterOpen Education Studies2544-78312020-12-012126527610.1515/edu-2020-0129edu-2020-0129‘Mathematics Achievement in Crisis’: Modelling the Influence of Teacher Knowledge and Experience in Senior High Schools in GhanaAnsah Joseph Kweku0Quansah Frank1Nugba Regina Mawusi2Department of Mathematics, University of Cape Coast, GhanaDepartment of Education and Psychology, University of Cape Coast, GhanaDepartment of Education and Psychology, University of Cape Coast, GhanaMathematics achievement in senior high schools (SHS) in Ghana is not encouraging and this has become a concern for major stakeholders. Several studies have been conducted to provide information to understand the issue of poor mathematics achievement. Of all the studies, areas regarding the joint influence of experience, pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and subject matter knowledge (SMK) have been less explored in Ghana. In this study, the interplay among these variables is examined in an attempt to explain the variances in students’ mathematics achievement. To achieve this purpose, 210 SHS teachers and 8,400 students in SHS across the country were surveyed and subsequently administered tasks on algebra taking into consideration the variables of interest. The study revealed that teacher knowledge and teaching experience significantly influenced students’ mathematics achievement. It was discovered that PCK had a significant indirect effect on students’ mathematics achievement through teachers’ SMK. The findings also showed that experience did not significantly moderate the relationship between teachers’ SMK and students’ mathematics achievement. The study, based on the outcome, made conclusions and recommendations for practice. Suggestions for the implementation of future studies were also highlighted.https://doi.org/10.1515/edu-2020-0129pedagogical content knowledgesubject matter knowledgesenior high schoolexperiencemathematics achievementalgebramathematics teachers |
| spellingShingle | Ansah Joseph Kweku Quansah Frank Nugba Regina Mawusi ‘Mathematics Achievement in Crisis’: Modelling the Influence of Teacher Knowledge and Experience in Senior High Schools in Ghana Open Education Studies pedagogical content knowledge subject matter knowledge senior high school experience mathematics achievement algebra mathematics teachers |
| title | ‘Mathematics Achievement in Crisis’: Modelling the Influence of Teacher Knowledge and Experience in Senior High Schools in Ghana |
| title_full | ‘Mathematics Achievement in Crisis’: Modelling the Influence of Teacher Knowledge and Experience in Senior High Schools in Ghana |
| title_fullStr | ‘Mathematics Achievement in Crisis’: Modelling the Influence of Teacher Knowledge and Experience in Senior High Schools in Ghana |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘Mathematics Achievement in Crisis’: Modelling the Influence of Teacher Knowledge and Experience in Senior High Schools in Ghana |
| title_short | ‘Mathematics Achievement in Crisis’: Modelling the Influence of Teacher Knowledge and Experience in Senior High Schools in Ghana |
| title_sort | mathematics achievement in crisis modelling the influence of teacher knowledge and experience in senior high schools in ghana |
| topic | pedagogical content knowledge subject matter knowledge senior high school experience mathematics achievement algebra mathematics teachers |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/edu-2020-0129 |
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