A Comparison between the Contexts learners in Grades 8,9 and 10 prefer for Mathematical Literacy

Abstract

The use of contexts in school mathematics is receiving much attention both nationally and internationally. This as well as the scarcity of research focusing on the topic stimulated me to research the contexts preferred by learners of mathematics. The large-scale project is called the Relevance of School Mathematics Education (ROSME) project. The current study essentially deals with that section of the larger project which investigates the issues and situations that learners in grades eight, nine and ten would prefer to deal with in mathematics. Broadly, this study focuses on the contexts preferred by grade 8, 9 and 10 learners as a domain in which to embed school mathematics. This study aims then to explore if there are differences in the contexts preferred by grade 8, 9 and 10 learners. The data were subjected to nonparametrie statistical analysis. The analysis rendered that across the grades learners expressed a high preference for dealing with mathematics which would allow them access to mathematics at tertiary institutions and mathematically related careers. The analysis also show the mathematics cluster as the most preferred and the agriculture cluster as the least preferred contextual domain the learners in all the grades are interested in learning about in mathematics. There also seem to be agreement across the three grades with regard to their interest in the health cluster, political cluster as well as the cluster dealing with fiscal issues and social upliftment. The item dealing with the 'mathematics of a lottery and gambling' achieved the status across all three grades for being ranked the least preferred. The significance of this study is that it provides some insight into what learners prefer as contexts for learning mathematics which might enhance mathematics teaching and learning.