Teaching and Learning Resources and their Influence on Poor Performance in Ordinary Level Mathematics in Glenview-Mufakose District of Harare, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The main purpose of the study was to examine the influence of teaching and learning resources on poor performance in Ordinary Level Mathematics in Glenview-Mufakose district of Harare in Zimbabwe. Two theories, The Constructivist theory and the Systems theory helped the researchers to get a deeper understanding of the contribution of resources to poor performance. This study is pragmatic in nature and this called for the use of both the positivist and post-positivist ontologies. The concurrent triangulation design was used where both data which was qualitative and quantitative were collected concurrently in one phase, analysed separately and then compared and combined. The study sample consisted of twelve school heads, twenty-four parents, forty-eight teachers and ninety Ordinary Level Mathematics learners who were purposively sampled from twelve secondary schools in the district. The total sample was one hundred and seventy-four respondents. The major finding of the study was that many schools in the district were operating without enough human and material resources to teach Ordinary Level Mathematics. The study recommended that the district and parents should avail human and material resources for the improvement of pass rate in Mathematics. Another recommendation was that Ordinary Level Mathematics teachers should use resources which enable learners to be actively involved in the teaching and learning process.