Archbishop Porter Girls’ Senior High School Students’ Perception of Difficult Concepts in Senior High School Further Mathematics Curriculum in Ghana

Abstract

Further Mathematics is frequently perceived as a subject set aside for some exceptional individuals. It often induces feelings of worry; nervousness and panic among students. This study employed the survey research design aimed at investigating difficult concepts in senior secondary school further mathematics curriculum as perceived by students in Archbishop Porter Girls’ Senior High School in Ghana. The study was guided by two research questions and the sample for the study was 100, all of who were females. The instrument used for the collection of data was a 37-item questionnaire tagged Difficult Concept Identification Questionnaire in Further Mathematics (DCIQFM). The data obtained were analyzed using Mann Whitney’s U test average rank values for determining difficult concepts and perceived  causes of further mathematics. Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha was used to estimate the reliability of the study which was found to be 0.754. The findings revealed Conic Section as the most perceived difficult concept in the further mathematics curriculum in Ghana. Other perceived difficult topics were Binomial Theorem, Sequence and Series, Calculus, Trigonometry and Combination (and permutation and their applications).  Again, large class size was identified as the main cause of the perceived difficulty sense students have towards further mathematics. Non-science students perceived further mathematics concepts as more difficult than the science students. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that workshops should be organized to train mathematics teachers on the effective and efficient strategies that should be adopted for the teaching of the identified difficult mathematics concepts.