INVESTIGATING THE POSSIBLE REASONS BEYOND STUDENTS’ LOW ACHIEVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS IN THE TAWJIHI EXAM: A CASE STUDY
Research on students’ achievement has a long tradition. This study examined the possible reasons behind students ‘low achievement in Mathematics in the Tawjihi exam. Since this study is a case study, the researchers conducted their study at Al-Ezaia Girl’s Secondary School. The motivation for this study stands beyond understanding whether there are additional reasons behind their low achievement in Mathematics. The population of this study consists of many parties, which are (5) teachers,(1) principle,(3) parents, and(12) Tawjihi students. The selection of the participants was as a focused group (single and multiple). For data collection, semi-structured interviews were adopted as a tool for the study. This study seeks to answer three main questions and different minor questions to investigate the reasons behind students' low achievement in mathematic in the Tawjihi exam. It also seeks to understand how teachers, school environment, curriculum, instructional material, the policy of the Ministry of education, and students' numbers affect their achievement. Data was collected and analyzed to find out the reasons behind students’ low achievement in Mathematics. The researchers collected the data and compared each participant’s response with the other to reveal the contradictions between their responses. The study found that there are many reasons for students' low achievement in Mathematics. One of the recommendations is that teachers should change their way of teaching, encourage students, and give continuous suitable feedback on students learning.
Keywords: Mathematics, Tawjihi Exam(Final Secondary Exam), Mathematics Teachers, Student’s Low Achievement, Instructional Material.