An investigation into factors affecting Grade 10 and 12 students’ mathematics performance in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG)

Abstract

Though Papua New Guinea (PNG) has great development potential with its natural resources, the country faces challenges with its education system. One of these challenges is the poor mathematics performance of students at secondary schools. This poor performance is evident both through the significant number of students who cannot continue to Grade 11, and through the simultaneous decline in student enrolment in science related degrees at the university level. That being the case, this study aims to examine the school, teacher and student-level factors and their interrelationships that affect Grade 10 and 12 students’ mathematics results. A quantitative-dominant mixed-method approach is employed in this study, which has 729 student and 41 teacher participants. The instruments used in this study are: survey questionnaires, mathematics test, and interview questions. The survey questionnaires for students and teachers are adopted from international studies such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and are modified according to the context of this study. The mathematics test questions are adopted and modified from past Grade 10 and 12 national mathematics examination papers, respectively. These survey questionnaires and tests are validated and verified through confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis. Rasch analysis scores obtained from the survey questionnaires and tests are used to examine the relationships between the independent and dependent variables at the teacher and student-levels through the use of Structural Equation Modelling, respectively. Hierarchical Linear Modelling is also employed to examine the direct effects from teacher and student-levels and cross-interaction effects between variables at these two different levels. The interview data at the teacher-level is analysed through thematic approach to capture information that might have been missed in teachers’ survey questionnaires to complement the findings of quantitative (survey) data. A number of significant factors (attitude, motivation, fathers’ occupation, private schools, students’ gender, teachers’ with mathematics major and quality of teaching) that are influencing students’ mathematics results are identified by this study, with mothers’ highest education level found to be the most critical factor. The study concludes that more attention should be given to the factors identified in this study, in order to improve Grade 10 and 12 students’ mathematics results. Overall, this study contributes theoretical, methodological, and practical knowledge to teaching and learning in mathematics education.