Major units causing higher failure rate in mathematics in the District Level Examination of class VIII

Abstract

Mathematics is one of the difficult subjects in the eyes of the students all over the world. The results of various standardized tests show that the students’ achievement in mathematics is comparatively lower than that in the other subjects. Several research works were conducted to find out the causes why mathematics leads the students to failure. But the similar works as to find the units which play the vital roles in making the students fail in the standardized test like the district level examination of class VIII are very rare and in fact no work of this type was found before. Thus with an intension of finding the units which play major role in making the students fail in district level examination of class VIII, this research work is endeavored to carry out.

The major objective of the study is thus to find out the units that play significant role in making students unsuccessful in mathematics of the district level examination of class eight. In other words the study is subject to find whether all the units are equally responsible in failure of the students or if all the failed students are evenly distributed over all the units taught in the class.

Eighty students from different schools of Kaski district and fifteen teachers who involved in checking the answer sheets of the district level examination were included in the sample of the study. An achievement test was conducted among those students and their scores in the test were analyzed first by dividing all into three groups according to the scores they obtained and then by using a non-parametric test (Chi-square test) within each group. Similarly a questionnaire was developed to collect the views of teacher and the data so collected was analyzed by observing the numerical differences.

The study concluded that all the units are not equally responsible for the failure of the students in the district level examination. The units like Geometry and Arithmetic comparatively play greater role in making the students fail than the other units.