Abstract
Effective teaching and learning of mathematics are vital not only for examination or assessment purposes but also for empowering learners to live in a modern age of science, mathematics, and engineering and enable them to role-play to the social and economic development of the developing countries and the whole world as well. This study reveals insights of teachers and students regarding mathematics teaching and learning in Rwanda. The study was a survey designed involving 217 ordinary level secondary school students and 25 secondary school teachers who teach Mathematics, from 5 schools in Karongi District, Western Province, in Rwanda. The results analysis was confined to three components namely; preferred mathematics teaching methods, motivation to teach and learn mathematics, and the usability of mathematics in daily life. Descriptive statistics and all the statistical tables/graphs were generated using SPSS and MS Excel. As results, peer learning and group work and expository were found to be the most applied teaching methods in the selected schools. This study has underlined that not only parents but also siblings have an impact on their young brothers/sisters’ education. In terms of its utilitarian value, respondents revealed that mathematics increases critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and creativity of students. Teachers need to be more knowledgeable in the subject matter, through lesson preparations and linking mathematical concepts to real-world experiences.
Highlights
Mathematics has been portrayed as a complex subject by most of the learners especially in SubSaharan Africa (SSA) where standards have been extremely low. Bethell (2016) observed that it would take several years for SSA countries to reach the levels comparable to their counterparts of the high-flying income economies of East Asia if the problem of low achievement in mathematics is not addressed and urgently
About 32.0% and 68.0% of the teachers agreed or strongly agreed that enhancing critical thinking skills and problem-solving will help their students in life while none of them disagreed to the statement
Teachers need to step up their efforts towards identifying where mathematics is pertinent and translating applied to mathematical problems as they interact with learners in the classroom
Summary
Mathematics has been portrayed as a complex subject by most of the learners especially in SubSaharan Africa (SSA) where standards have been extremely low. Bethell (2016) observed that it would take several years for SSA countries to reach the levels comparable to their counterparts of the high-flying income economies of East Asia if the problem of low achievement in mathematics is not addressed and urgently. Mathematics has been portrayed as a complex subject by most of the learners especially in SubSaharan Africa (SSA) where standards have been extremely low. Bethell (2016) observed that it would take several years for SSA countries to reach the levels comparable to their counterparts of the high-flying income economies of East Asia if the problem of low achievement in mathematics is not addressed and urgently. One of the efforts aimed at realising such expectations in Rwanda (Rwanda Education Board, 2015) includes that of reviewing the curriculum to align it with national aspirations and to ensure that the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values acquired by learners are consistent with the requirements of the 21st century skills. It is believed that equipping learners with necessary skills could lead to the development of a knowledge-based economy that can propel individual citizens to compete in the global market
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