Difficulties That Level One Trainees Encounter In Learning Mathematics: A Case Study Of The Windhoek Vocational Training Centre

ABSTRACT

The low performance of the Level 1 trainees at the Windhoek Vocational Training

Centre has been on an increasing at an alarming rate. Over the years many of the

Level 1 trainees Of Windhoek Vocational Training Centre (WVTC) perform below

average in their final year examination. However, at the present moment there were

no proven reasons why the performance of these trainees was so low. The study

therefore investigated the difficulties that the Level 1 trainees experience in learning

Mathematics at the WVTC in the Khomas Educational Region of Namibia. The

study sought to address the following questions: (1) What is the state of the number

sense of the Level 1 trainees at WVTC? (2) What are the difficulties experienced in

learning Mathematics by Level 1 trainees at WVTC?, (3) What are the contributing

factors to the difficulties experienced in learning Mathematics by the Level 1 trainees

at WVTC?, and (4) What can be done to ameliorate the difficulties experienced by

the Level 1 trainees in learning Mathematics at WVTC?

The study was guided by Blackwell, Trzesniewski and Dweck (2007) of “fixed” and

“growth” mind-set theory. The study employed a mixed-methods approach in two

sequential phases. StratifiedThe group of trainees selected are in the entry stage of

Vocational Education and Training therefore, since they are new to the system of

VET they provided rich information to answer the researcher’s questions. To

determine the appropriate sample number, the sample formula by Fowler (2014)

dictates that the sample size needs to be 241. Thereafter, stratified sampling was used

to get a sample of 241 out of 645 Level 1 trainees at the WVTC. As a result, a total

of 241 Level 1 trainees participated in the study, and all the participants completed

the number sense test and the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scale. The

data collected from the number sense test and the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics

Attitude Scale were analysed using frequency tables and graphs and thematic

analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data.

The responses from the two instruments were used to purposefully select 48 Level 1

trainees for phase two, in which qualitative data were collected through group

discussions. Trainees were randomly assigned to six focus groups discussions

consisting of eight trainees each.

The study found that more than 50% of the Level 1 trainees had a negative attitude

towards Mathematic. The findings from the focus group discussions revealed the

following specific difficulties that the trainees experienced in learning Mathematics;

and they were among others: difficulty in in transferring knowledge, incomplete

understanding of the language of Mathematics, and low number sense level. The

identified difficulties were caused by the following factors; large number of trainees

in the classroom, trainee’s attitude towards Mathematics, trainee’s poor English

Language proficiency, and time allocated for Mathematics lessons on the timetable.

The study recommended that the admission office should admit a number that is

manageable to the Mathematics instructors at the centre. Also the instructors should

provide remedial teaching to those trainees that are finding it hard to cope in the

normal classroom teaching and the centre should develop a bridging course that will

help prospective trainees for Level 1 to fill the gap on the needed number sense

efficiency to cope with the Level 1 Mathematics content.