Students’ Expectation and Mathematics Teachers Exhibition of Effective Instruction and Desirable Classroom Assessment Behaviour in Liberian Secondary Schools

Abstract

Failure by teachers to meet students' expectations on desirable classroom instruction and assessment constitutes an assessment related problem in mathematics learning. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between students' expectation and mathematics teachers' exhibition of desirable classroom assessment behaviour. The study adopted a quantitative research approach and used the inferential survey design, which ensured close monitoring and supervision of both data collection and analysis and made interpretation easy. Using cluster sampling and systematic sampling techniques, the sample of 887 12 th grade students was selected from the target population of all secondary school students in Liberia enrolled during the time of the study. A Survey questionnaire was used in this study and data was analyzed using paired sample t- test at the significance level, .05. The study found significant difference between students' expectation and teacher exhibition of quality questioning, feedback, wait time, fairness of classroom assessment and motivation through classroom assessment. The study also revealed significant difference between students' expectation and teacher exhibition of content knowledge, variety instruction, clarity of presentation, and class engagement. Based on the findings, it was concluded that mathematics teachers engage students' in classroom discourse and align classroom assessment with agreed instructional objectives so as to bridge the gap between students' expectation and mathematics teachers exhibitionof desirable classroom instruction and assessment behaviour. The implications and recommendations are discussed. Key terms: student's expectation, desirable classroom assessment behaviour, effective instruction. I. Introduction Classroom assessment is regarded as an essential component of the teaching and learning processes in schools (Goodrum, Hackling, R even if he/she passes all other subjects in the examinations (WAEC, 2011). Given the significance of mathematics, it is taken as a compulsory subject in Liberian schools. As a result students attending secondary schools are compelled to do mathematics simply because it is a required subject. Anecdotal comments from students showed that they were good at mathematics in the primary school and that they had initially planned to pursue further study in mathematics related subjects. However, students hope to pursue mathematic related areas is being short circuited due to the manner mathematics has been taught and assessedin schools. Teachersoften delay to return students' mathematics assignment and quiz papers on time, but even if they got their work back teachers do not review the questions for the students to identify their weaknesses. Another thing is that mathematics teachers expect instant answers to questions they post to the class, which do not provide wait time to enable students to adequately attempt the questions. According to Ottevanger, van den Akker, and de Feiter (2007, p. 19) asserted that classroom assessment behavior of many teachers tends to thwart standard of education set by a country The argument raise here is that classroom