DIFFICULT CONCEPTS IDENTIFICATION IN MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM BY NIGERIAN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL MATHEMATICS TEACHERS

Abstract

The study examined the difficult Concepts in Nigeria Senior
Secondary School (SSS) Mathematics Curriculum as identified by
the teachers. The population for the study comprised of all
Mathematics teachers in Senior Secondary Schools in Lagos State.
The sample for the study was selected from the Education District
I &VI. The two districts were selected randomly from the six
Educational Districts in Lagos State. One hundred and twenty
(120) SS2 and SS3 mathematics teachers were purposefully
selected from the sampled districts. The instrument for data
collection was a researcher designed questionnaire titled
Difficult Concept Identification in Mathematics (DCIMQ). The
reliability coefficient of 0.74 was obtained using Cronbach alpha.
The data collected were analyzed using frequency counts and
mean. The study showed that teachers identified eleven different
concepts as difficult concepts in the SSS mathematics curriculum.
Besides, the teacher identified the following as the factors
responsible for the identified difficult concepts; inadequate
teacher curriculum, lack of adequate problem-solving skills,
poor background in some mathematics concepts among others.
Hence, the study recommended that the teacher education
curriculum should be overhauled to include revision of some
concepts in the senior secondary school mathematics curriculum.
Also, teachers should be sensitized to make a personal effort to
develop themselves adequately in their specialized subjects.