Abstract

UNDERGRADUATE PERCEPTION OF DIFFICULT CONCEPTS IN MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM IN EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY

by1Oginni. I.O. (Ph.D.), 2Ojo O. F.&3Daramola K. R.

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Abstract This study investigated undergraduate perception of difficult concepts in Mathematics curriculum in Ekiti State University, Nigeria. The study employed descriptive research of the survey type. The target population for the study consisted of all Mathematics students in both faculty of science and education in Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti. A sample of 120 undergraduates were selected using stratified sampling to select equal number of male and female students.The research instrument used was a structured questionnaire constructed by theresearchers tagged ?Difficult Concept Identification Questionnaire in Mathematics? (DCIQM) The face and content validity were ascertained by experts in Mathematics and Tests,Measurement andEvaluation departments. While the reliability was determined by using test re-test method and analysed using Pearson?s Product Moment Correlation Analysis which yielded 0.85 reliability coefficients.Data collected were analysed descriptively using mean and standard deviation for the two general questions raised while Correlation and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypotheses all at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that some Mathematics concepts are difficult and it varies from concept to concept. It was also found that,integration and partial fraction are the most percieved difficult concepts by undergradutes while inequality was perceived the least difficult concept. Based on the findings of the study,it was recommendedthatconcept test for formative assessment should be developed for the undergraduates in Mathematics and also, workshop should be organized for Mathematics undergraduates on the identified difficult concepts. Keywords: Undergraduate, Perception, Difficult Concepts, Performance, Curriculum, Career

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