EFFECT OF TEACHERS, QUALIFICATION ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN MATHEMATICS

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION

Our focus in this chapter is to critically examine relevant literatures that would assist in explaining the research problem and furthermore recognize the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps.

Precisely, the chapter will be considered in three sub-headings:

 Conceptual Framework

 Theoretical Framework

 Empirical Review

2.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Academic Performance

Academic performance or "academic achievement" is the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has attained their short or long-term educational goals. Completion of educational benchmarks such as secondary school diplomas and bachelor's degrees represent academic achievement.

Academic achievement is commonly measured through examinations or continuous assessments but there is no general agreement on how it is best evaluated or which aspects are most important—procedural knowledge such as skills or declarative knowledge such as facts. Furthermore, there are inconclusive results over which individual factors successfully predict academic performance, elements such as test anxiety, environment, motivation, and emotions require consideration when developing models of school achievement.

Factors influencing academic Performance

Individual differences influencing academic performance

Individual differences in academic performance have been linked to differences in intelligence and personality. Students with higher mental ability as demonstrated by IQ tests and those who are higher in conscientiousness (linked to effort and achievement motivation) tend to achieve highly in academic settings. A recent meta-analysis suggested that mental curiosity (as measured by typical intellectual engagement) has an important influence on academic achievement in addition to intelligence and conscientiousness.

Children's semi-structured home learning environment transitions into a more structured learning environment when children start first grade. Early academic achievement enhances later academic achievement.

Parent's academic socialization is a term describing the way parents influence students' academic achievement by shaping students' skills, behaviors and attitudes towards school. Parents influence students through the environment and discourse parents have with their children. Academic socialization can be influenced by parents' socio-economic status. Highly educated parents tend to have more stimulating learning environments. Further, recent research indicates that the relationship quality with parents will influence the development of academic self-efficacy among adolescent-aged children, which will in turn affect their academic performance.

Children's first few years of life are crucial to the development of language and social skills. School preparedness in these areas help students adjust to academic expectancies.

Studies have shown that physical activity can increase neural activity in the brain, specifically increasing executive brain functions such as attention span and working memory; and improve academic performance in both elementary school children and college freshmen.

Non-cognitive factors

Non-cognitive factors or skills, are a set of "attitudes, behaviors, and strategies" that promotes academic and professional success, such as academic self-efficacy, self-control, motivation, expectancy and goal setting theories, emotional intelligence, and determination. To create attention on factors other than those measured by cognitive test scores sociologists Bowles and Gintis coined the term in the 1970s. The term serves as a distinction of cognitive factors, which are measured by teachers through tests and quizzes. Non-cognitive skills are increasingly gaining popularity because they provide a better explanation for academic and professional outcomes.

Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy is one of the best predictors of academic success. Self-efficacy is the belief of being able to do something. Stajković et al. looked at the Big Five traits on academic success as well and saw that conscientiousness and emotional stability were predictors of self-efficacy in over half of their analyses. However, self-efficacy was more indicative of academic performance than personality in all of the analyses. This suggests that parents who want their children to have academic achievement can look to increase their child's sense of self-efficacy at school.

Motivation

Motivation is the reasoning behind an individual's actions. Research has found that students with higher academic performance, motivation and persistence use intrinsic goals rather than extrinsic ones. Furthermore, students who are motivated to improve upon their previous or upcoming performance tend to perform better academically than peers with lower motivation. In other words, students with higher need for achievement have greater academic performance.

Self-control

Self-control, in the academic setting, is related self-discipline, self-regulation, delay of gratification and impulse control. Baumeister, Vohs, and Tice defined self-control as "the capacity for altering one's own responses, especially to bring them into line with standards such as ideals, values, morals, and social expectations, and to support the attainment of long-term goals." In other words, self-control is the ability to prioritize long-term goals over the temptation of short-term impulses. Self-control is usually measured through self completed questionnaires. Researchers often use the Self-Control Scale developed by Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone in 2004.

Through a longitudinal study of the marshmallow test, researchers found a relationship between the time spent waiting for the second marshmallow and higher academic achievement. However, this finding only applied for participants who had the marshmallow in plain sight and were placed without any distraction tactics.

High locus of control, where an individual attributes success to personal decision making and positive behaviors such as discipline, is a ramification of self-control. High locus of control has been found to have a positive predictive relationship with high collegiate GPA.

Extracurricular activities

Organized extracurricular activities have yielded a positive relationship with high academic performance including increasing attendance rates, school engagement, GPA, postsecondary education, as well as a decrease in drop out rates and depression. Additionally, positive developmental outcomes have been found in youth that engage in organized extracurricular activities. High school athletics have been linked with strong academic performance, particularly among urban youth. However, involvement in athletics has been linked to increased alcohol consumption and abuse for high school students along with increased truancy.

While research suggests that there is a positive link between academic performance and participation in extracurricular activities, the practice behind this relationship is not always clear. Moreover, there are many unrelated factors that influence the relationship between academic achievement and participation in extracurricular activities (Mahoney et al., 2005). These variables include: civic engagement, identity development, positive social relationships and behaviors, and mental health (Mahoney et al., 2005). In other research on youth, it was reported that positive social support and development, which can be acquired through organized after school activities is beneficial for achieving academic success (Eccles & Templeton, 2002). In terms of academic performance there are a whole other group of variables to consider. Some of these variables include: demographic and familial influences, individual characteristics, and program resources and content (Mahoney et al., 2005). For example, socio-economic status has been found to plays a role in the number of students participating in extracurricular activities (Covay & Carbonaro, 2010). Furthermore, it is suggested that the peer relationships and support that develop in extracurricular activities often affect how individuals perform in school (Eccles & Templeton, 2002). With all these variables to consider it is important to create a better understanding how academic achievement can be seen in both a negative and positive light.

In conclusion, most research suggests that extracurricular activities are positively correlated to academic achievement (Mahoney et al., 2005). It has been mentioned that more research could be conducted to better understand the direction of this relationship (Eccles & Templeton, 2002). Together this information can give us a better understand the exact aspects to consider when considering the impact that participation in extracurricular activities can have on academic achievement.

Relevance of Mathematics in Schools

Generally, mathematics has been identified as one of the basic perquisites for useful living in the society by the Nigeria national policy on education. The use of general mathematics has not been limited to academic environment but also been indispensible in all endeavours of human activity. This is evidenced in the application of basic mathematical concepts such as Addition and Subtraction in all business dealings. 19 The question that remains valid even to the educated mind is the needs for Mathematics when most students are yet to grasp the full extent of General mathematics in Nigeria Secondary schools. In their review of Mathematics education, Charles and Lester (2011) states that: 1. The study of the subject should provide students with certain skills and process that prepare them to be productive member of the society. 2. The study of the subject should give students the necessary background and skills to enable them make career decisions consistent with their interest and ability. 3. The study of the subject should have potential for enriching the students' lives in some way. The first point stress the importance of Mathematics in terms of life skills and the ability to function properly in the society, while the second emphasis the key role which Mathematics holds in relationship to many career choices. The third is less tangible and may be suggesting the methods of Mathematics having some value in terms of the way students think. Its worth of note that Mathematics as a subject is more popular among student in science departments of secondary schools in Nigeria. This is not unconnected with the probable career choice of students who are likely to be going w area of specialization such as engineering, pure and applied science and Statistics. Mathematics then serves as a bridging program to help students understand and get use to the rigor of scientific processes. Furthermore, mathematics helps students to grasp a remarkable understanding of their environment. 20 According to Tymocko, T. (2008) to introduce students to humanistic mathematics is to introduce them to a human adventure". Mathematics provides the platform and tools for students in Nigeria secondary schools to properly model their environment and be able to manipulate it to observe changes that might or have occurred in it. Finally in order for Nigeria to remain relevant in the affairs of nations, there is the need to develop a new generation of students who are able to cope, understand and be part of the re-writing of world history through technological advancement. Its reasonable to state that general mathematics curriculum in Nigeria is inadequate for this crucial assignment thereby leaving Nigeria students with Mathematics as a viable alternative to achieve national objective of globalization.

Mathematics Teaching in Schools

Mathematics in its entirety can be defined as a way of describing relationship numbers and other measurable quantities. (Encarta, 2009). The Encyclopedia Britannica (2009) defines mathematics as the science of structure, order and relation that evolved from elemental practice of counting, measuring and describing the shapes of objects. The Wikipedia online encyclopedia in quoting the Works of Steen (2000) and Devlin Keith, (2006) defines mathematics as the study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Jourdain (2003) is of the opinion that mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions. Scholars such as Steen (2000) defines mathematics as "an exploratory science that seeks to understand every kind of pattern - patterns that occur in nature, patterns that are invented by human mind ad even pattern that are created by other pattern”. Thus for the 21 purpose of this study, mathematics is defined as a general way of thinking about the environment surrounding us, the relations between its elements and our interaction with it. Booker (2005) stated that mathematics education is more than just a sum of appropriate learning of subject matter content and provision of suitable pedagogy teacher, but an understanding of the mathematical process or a coming to know what the doing of mathematics is all about. Accordingly, mathematics education (i.e. the teaching and learning of mathematics) can be defined as the study of practices and methods of teaching and learning mathematics, and the development of mathematics teaching tools that facilitates, exercise and practice with the definite goal of archiving satisfactory student performance. The concept of Mathematics education as applicable to the Nigerian secondary school education curriculum refers to the teaching of mathematical concepts that are considered to be theoretically advanced for teaching as part of the general mathematics curriculum. The main objective of its teaching is to prepare students in science oriented class for advance studies in science oriented programme in tertiary institution, mostly as a bridging ground for the understanding of basic scientific concepts. Menal (2008) considered mathematics as an essential foundation for many other subjects‟ areas as well as many occupations in life. Orton et al (2010) argued that "for many years mathematics have suffered from a belief that when it's not directly useful it has indirect utility in strengthening the power of reasoning or in inducing a general accuracy of mind". With the inherent logic in the process of mathematics, seems possible. It could simply be that those who possess good power of reasoning thrive in the world of mathematics rather than a study of mathematics and indeed further (advance) mathematics developing reasoning ability. 22 Many questions thus emerge: Why is Mathematics often seen as difficult and unpopular by many students? Why does large number of students fail Mathematics? Who and what is responsible for this high failure rate: is it due to inappropriate curriculum, inappropriate teaching methods or just lack of commitment from the learners. These issues are complicated and interrelated in most cases.

2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Motivational Theories

In making instruction interesting in learning Mathematics, there is need to use methods/strategies and material/media which will make the learning of mathematics, active, investigative and adventurous as much as possible. Such methods also must be ones that take into account, learners‟ differences and attitudes towards mathematics as a subject. Examples could be the use of programmed learning texts, use of concrete materials and others instructional devices, which are manipulated. Also, mathematics exercises in form of various pencil and paper activities should also be used to enhance self-esteem of learners, which will in turn improve attitude of such students, it is recommended that varying activities (game activities), which have been designed to contain mathematics problems ranging from easy to very difficult, should be used. At least each student no matter his ability level should be able to answer some questions correctly. This would go a long way to motivate such students towards further learning. When an activity is designed with its central feature being an admired situation, experience or individual, it would go a long way in motivating, pupils to learn mathematics. For example, in teaching addition at the primary school level, you could 17 centre learning activities on foods like snacks. It could as well be centered on a pleasurable experience and so on. All these suggestions would help to motivate learners towards learning. However, one strategy, which has been observed to bring about motivation to learners to learn mathematics, is the use of game based strategy (Aremu, 2008). The target of the study is premised on student, teacher, and curriculum. Therefore theories that have to do with the characteristics of these entities as they affect learning would be applicable. Since the learning of any subject matter depends on the way it is presented to the learner by his or her teacher, the way the learner interacts with the learning experiences presented to him and the environment within which the learning takes place, it is therefore expected that these entities will be affected by variables that have to do with them; these include, school location attitudes, and background knowledge in mathematics that are considered in this study. The theories of Maslow (2009) and Gagne (2005) have therefore provided theoretical basis for the study. Maslow's motivational theory expresses that there are two groups of needs; these are deficiency needs and growth needs. When the deficiency needs are met, learners are likely to function at the higher levels (that is growth needs level). This means that when the deficiency needs are met, self directed learning or desire to know and understand would be engaged in more easily. The implication of thesis that teachers should encourage students to meet their growth needs by enhancing the attractiveness of learning situation. In the light of these, when the environment where the student is learning (in this study, class, and location of school) is made attractive, effective learning is likely to take place. Gagne's theoretical formulations are attempts to identify aspects of learning and to match with the intellectual demands of the individual. While development is subordinated 18 to learning, Gagne's paradigm insists on identifying valid ordered sequences of instruction (pre-requisites) that can facilitate the learning of intellectual skills. Gagne's theory offers an opportunity for the Mathematics teacher to diagnose students' limitations and strengths more effectively, thus permitting more adequate individualization and personalization of instruction. Gagne's learning hierarchy also offers Mathematics teachers the opportunities of developing and conceptualizing agreed-upon Mathematics goals and objectives in reality oriented and learner - centre way. It is on this premise that Gagne anchors his belief that children learn an ordered additive capability. That is, the simpler and more specific capabilities is learned before the next more complex and general capability. Gagne therefore considered previous experience to have a major role in determining an individual's performance. It is within this framework that the present study looked into the student's background knowledge in Mathematics vis-a-vis their performance in Mathematics in the senior secondary school.

2.3 EMPIRICAL REVIEW

Teachers' Academic Qualifications on Students’ Performance in Mathematics

Over the past decades, educational planners, policy makers and administrators all over the world have become increasingly concerned about the quality of education provided by the school system. They have come to realize that many meaningful improvements in the quality of education that students receive are highly dependent on the quality of teachers (Anderson, 2009). This situation is especially true in the developing countries where teachers are usually the only adults who transact educational inputs to the students. In Schofield (2004), Shulman (2007) & Ball (2003) papers, they took subject- 23 matter knowledge as mathematics teacher's mathematics achievement. Thus, subjectmatter knowledge is considered as a measurable performance indicator for assessing teachers' mathematics achievement. In the past decade, teacher's subject- knowledge was measured by the scores achieved on standardized tests, by number of academic modules, by number of courses taken in university (Ball, 2003; Shulman, 2007). In Nigeria, most educators have the same view on taking mathematics subject-matter knowledge as mathematics teacher's mathematics achievement. But these quantitative measures do not represent the teacher's entire k n o w l edge of subject matter, especially in the teaching profession, since subject m a t t e r knowledge also includes pedagogical content knowledge. In recent years, pedagogical content knowledge has been considered as another category of teacher's subject matter knowledge. Ball (2003) & Shulman (2007) feel that this kind of knowledge can be described as knowing the ways of representing and formulating the subject matter and making it comprehensible to students. As teachers' instructional devices influence the process of learning, it is therefore important to understand how teachers explain mathematics knowledge to students, w h a t they emphasize and what they do not; and what methods they choose to help s t u d e nts understand. In Nigeria as in many other developing countries, education has been usually considered to be the cornerstone and pillow of economic growth and developments. government believes that to survive in the competitive world economy, quality of education is the key variable. Grounded in this belief, educational reforms have taken places that are directed towards improving the quality of education. These reforms in 24 Nigeria are demanding greater performance and commitment from teachers, holding teachers for the performance of students in secondary schools. Teachers are held responsible for the quality of students' work. The quality of the students' note-books and assignment shows the teacher's delivery quality and the students‟' contribution assessment results shows whether there has been an improvement or not. Current models of supervision portray the teacher as participant rather than an observer in the learning process. The emphasis of these models is the importance of continuous improvement for both the teacher and student alike. Perennial poor mathematics (and Mathematics alike) performance in Nigerian secondary schools has generated an overwhelming need for a review of current teaching and learning strategies. The Mathematical Association of Nigeria (MAN) once declared a War Against Poor Achievement in Mathematics (WAPAM). Unfortunately, WAPAM achieved little in reversing the trend of poor mathematics achievement in Nigerian secondary schools. The importance of teachers cannot be over stressed. This is because teachers play a number of roles. Specifically, teachers have been referred to by Oyedeji (2008) as an agent of innovation. For meaningful innovations, teachers' academic qualification is very important. This is because teacher education is a very complex enterprise. The complexity arises as a result of several factors which include determination of what effective teachers are, teachers are expected to fulfill a variety of roles, some common to all teachers, others uniquely related to certain kinds of environments of students or subject matter. Added to this, is the fact that teacher education involves the training of professionals who will educate students in future. Despite the complexity in the field of teacher education, one cannot over-emphasize the importance of academic training of teachers of all categories. 25 This is because the efficiency of any institution depends on the academic competence of the teaching staff since no educational system can rise above the quality of its teachers (FRN, 1991 p. 38). A number of studies carried out had indicated the need for teachers' academic qualification in their various teaching subjects. Such studies include those of Swan & Jones (2001), Rubba (2001), Ivowi (2003,2004), Akinsola (2003), Setidisho (2006), Biggs (2006) & Osibodu (2001). Swan & Jones (2001) finding was that teachers should receive appropriate training in the subject matter area so that their classroom instruction could be above board. Rubba's (2001) study indicated that teachers have needs according to the science discipline taught. Ivowi, Akinsola, Setidisho, Biggs & Osibodu found out misconceptions in students which they traced to misconceptions held by their teachers. All the above studies prove that training of prospective teachers in the subject matter areas should not be taken lightly by science educators. Ehrenberg & Brewer (2004) highlight seven important factors an effective school exhibit. These include: instructional leadership, clear and focused mission, safe and orderly environment climate of high expectation, frequent monitoring of student progress, positive home school relations and opportunity to learn and student time ontask. Policy makers in the education sector would do well if they realize that collaboration; teaming, peer view; coaching and monitoring are critical components professional development efforts. Schools that promote a culture of performance continuous assessment offer the capacity to enhance student achievement and the teacher's professional growth (Furtwengler, 2005). When teachers reflect on what and how students learn and use this knowledge to modify their instructions accordingly, 26 better teaching style and learning occur. The feedback from such reflective teaching can serve as an effective tool for teacher improvement, so it is not only the students that benefit, the teacher also gains. The literature on teaching quality and qualification has typically been viewed as inconsistent and inconclusive of this perception has been fueled by a set of analyses conducted by Eric Hanusek and others over the past two decades. In his meta-analysis of studies examining the impact of several key educational resources on students' achievement, Hanushek (2008) concluded that there is no systematic relationship between educational inputs and students' performance. While impacts on student achievement is clearly the most important criteria for evaluating teacher quality (Monk, 2004), research has also identified a number of directly observable teacher characteristics that are linked to teacher quality and performance (Goldhaber& Brewer, 2002). Research also shows that teacher knowledge of specific subject matter, particularly at the secondary level is a good predictor of student achievement. Monk (2004) finds a strong correlation between teacher subject matter preparation in mathematics and student success for both low and high scoring students, while Goldhaber& Brewer (2002) note that students do better In mathematics if taught by a teacher with a bachelor's or master's degree in mathematics. The professional needs of a teacher vary in relation to the stage e is in the profession. The supports of an inexperienced teacher needs differ that of a teacher's assistant, or even a professional teacher. Supervision and coaching are critical elements of professional growth and development (Rockoff, 2004). Furthermore, Fajemidagba (2006) identified four important variables in teacher education. The variables are teaching behaviour, subject matters, learning behaviour and 27 the setting. According to him, the subject matter constitutes pedagogical concepts, generalizations, prescriptions, theories from relevant field of psychology, philosophy and so on. This prompted Fajemidagba to study the need for the inclusion geometry in the education of mathematics teachers in Nigerian universities in His results revealed that the majority of secondary school Mathematics teachers had little exposure to geometry at the university level. Nearly all the study sample agreed that geometry should be included in the programmed for the pre-service Mathematics teachers. This further stress the need for such training for Mathematics teacher, as it was found out that some teachers of Mathematics deliberately skip certain topics in the syllabus hence losing confidence of their students due to their inability to deliver the "stuff" properly. As stated by Anyip, (2009), Jahun & Korau, (2005) confirmed the hypothesis that teachers perception of their competence to teach Mathematics differs significantly according to their qualifications. Kinyomi (2006) from his study found out that study sample indicated that they improvement in the areas of English composition and Creative Writing to enable them functions better in their teaching. Participation in in-service training programmed can also improve teachers' classroom interaction pattern. This revelation was made by Igwebui (2005) when he determined the effectiveness of the Associate Certification in Education (ACE Sandwich) training programmers of the Institute of Education, University of Benin. Too little knowledge about subject matter can be a danger since the teacher may be propagating error. In addition, too much specialized theoretical knowledge could lead teachers to make course content unnecessarily theoretical and impractical. A major concern in teacher knowledge should therefore be directed to practical, everyday examples of 28 phenomena being taught as this is the objective of the 6-3-3-4 system of education in Nigeria. These were the implications From Butzow & Qureshi's (2008) study "Science Teachers' Competences. A practical Approach" conducted on twenty-one science teachers selected by a fled random sampling technique. Their revelation was supported by the finding Odeyemi (2002) when he carried out a study titled "Science Educators' Perception of competences Necessary for Secondary Science Teaching". All the teachers in the sample rated professional role and development very high. One of the fundamental problems facing science teaching today is the question of how current are the professional teachers. The majority of teachers who have been employed in the past decades have been doing the same thing, the same way all along. They have no edge of the current ideas and innovations that have taken place in the educational field in the recent past. What account for this is that teachers have not given the opportunity for re-training (Ogunbiyi, 2004). He therefore recommended that teachers should be encouraged to go for workshop training in their areas of specialization. Okpala & Onocha (2005) concludes that academic qualification of teachers was paramount among the needs of teachers. It was to confirm the influence of teachers' academic qualifications on students' performances in Mathematics that this study was be carried out.

Teachers’ Competency on Performance of Students in Mathematics

This study explored whether and how teacher‟s mathematical competency for teaching contributes to gain in mathematics knowledge is significantly related to student achievement or performance in Mathematics. The student mathematics 29 achievement can be attained by improving teachers‟ competency in Mathematics has attracted increasing attend from policy makers .To provide students with high qualified teachers, no child left behind requires teachers to demonstrate subject matter majors, certification, or other means. For example, teachers of Mathematics not only need to calculate correctly, but also know how to use pictures or diagrams to represent mathematics concept and procedures to students, provide students with explanations for common rules and mathematical procedures, and analyze student solution and explanations by inadequately measuring teachers‟ competency, existing educational product function research could be limited in the magnitude of effect that teachers‟ competency has on student learning ,but also about the kinds of teacher knowledge that matter most in producing students learning. An important purpose of study is to demonstrate the independent effect of teachers mathematical competency for teaching to student performance net of other possible measures of teacher qualify such as teacher certification, educational course work and experience. By mathematical knowledge used to carry out the work of teaching mathematics. Example of this “work of teaching” include experience term and concept to student, interpreting students statement and solution using representation accurately in the classroom and providing students with examples of further mathematical concept or proof (Hill, Schilling, &Ball, 2004). Effectively in teaching results not simply in the knowledge, a teacher hold personally but how this knowledge is used in the classrooms. Teacher highly proficient in Mathematics will only help other learn Mathematics if they are able to used own knowledge to perform the texts they most enact as teachers for example, to hear students, to select and make good assignment and to manage disruption of 30 important ideas and useful work on skills. Harbison & Hanushek (2006).Shulman originally proposed 3 categories of teacher‟s subject matter competency. His first category. Is Content Knowledge, was indented to do note “the amount and organization of knowledge in the mind of teacher‟s contents knowledge, according to Shulman, included both facts and concept in a domain. The second category advanced by (Shulman, I.S. 2007) was Pedagogical Content Knowledge .The concept attracted the attention and interest of researchers and teachers educators. The component of pedagogical content knowledge according to Shulman (2007) are representation of specific content ideas ,as well as an understanding of what makes the learning of a specific topic difficult or easy for student. Shulman third category, curriculum knowledge involves awareness of how topic are arranged both within a school year and over time and ways of using curriculum resources such as textbooks, to organize a program of study for student. Eggen and Kauchak(2010) highlighted hairy under which a study on three teachers knowledge of academic performance of student in Mathematics. These are namely: knowledge of content, pedagogical content knowledge and general pedagogical knowledge .It is a statement of fact that nobody can teach what he does not understand. It has been established that there is high correlation between what teachers know and what they teach (Wilson et al. 2009). Thus, the ability to teach Mathematics effectively depends on the teachers knowledge and knowledge occurs in a variety of forms. Teacher‟s effectiveness is impeded if the teacher is unfamiliar with the body of knowledge taught and that teachers, effectiveness is subject specific. The implication of this for teachers is that they most thoroughly understand the content of what. The mathematics teachers whose 31 understanding of topic is thorough use clearer language their discourse is more connected, and they provide better explanation than does whose background is weaker. the way the students perceive the teachers in terms of their (teachers) knowledge of content of subject matters may significantly affect the student academics performance in Mathematics pedagogical content knowledge depend on and understanding of a particular topic and how to explain it in a way that it will make sense to the students pedagogical content knowledge implies, an understanding of ways of representing the subject that it comprehensive to others and an understanding of what make the learning of a specific topic easy or difficult. Eggen & Kauchak(2010) declared that where pedagogical knowledge is lacking teachers commonly paraphrase information in learners texts books or provide abstract explanation that are not meaningful to their student. From evidences available in literatures it is been established why teachers‟ competency in Mathematics is highly essential for effective teaching. Ehindero (2009) confirmed that a teachers teaching is influences by the level of his pedagogical knowledge, to promote orders and learning in the classroom, every teacher should possess essential teaching skills. Ehindero & Ajibade (2009) posit that teaching is a process of continuous personal development and professional self discovery alongside an emerging understanding of the teaching and learning process.

Gender and Achievement in Mathematics

In Nigeria, perhaps the whole of Africa, gender bias is still very prevalent. This is a view to which Onyeizugdo (2003,p.12) has also alluded in pointing out that “sex roles are sometime rigid in Africa, particularly in Nigeria… gender differences are emphasized.” It is 32 commonplace to see gender stereotypes manifested in the day-to-day life of an average Nigeria. Certain vocation and professions have traditionally been regarded as men (medicine, engineering, architecture), and others as women‟s (nursing, catering, typing, arts). Typical parent call on boys to wash car, cut grass, fix bulb, or ladders to climb ladders to fix or to remove things. On the other hand, chores such as washing dishes, cooking, cleaning, and so on, are reserved for the girl. In a sense, what are regarded as complex and difficult tasks are allocated to boys, whereas girls are expected to handle the relatively easy and less demanding tasks as a result of this way of thinking, the large society has tended to see girls as the “weaker sex”. Consequently, an average Nigeria child goes to school with these fixed stereotypes. These stereotypes persist because in term of assertiveness, for example, men in Nigeria were reported to be more assertive than women among teacher education, law, and pharmacy student (Adejumo, 2000). Mathematics is a science subject and some gender-based science researchers have reported that what both the „feminist empiricists‟ and the „liberal feminist critics‟ seem to agree is that female in principle will produce exactly the same scientific knowledge as males provided that sufficient rigour is undertaking in scientific inquiry (Howes, 2002; Barton, 2008; Sinnes, 2006). They also believe that initiatives that build on the assumption that females and males are equal in their approach to science, and that inequality in science and science education is caused by political, educational and social factors external to science, would be expected to focus on removing these external obstacles. There is need therefore to give boys and girls exactly the same opportunities and challenges. In Nigeria, gender-achievement studies include Abiam&Odok (2006) who found no sufficient relationship between gender and achievement in number and numeration, 33 algebraic processes and statistics. They however found the existence of a weak significant relationship in Geometry and Trigonometry. Though globally the issue of gender inequality in Science, Technology and Mathematics Education (STME) has produce inconclusive results, one meta analysis the period 1999 - 2002 on Mathematics and gender led to two conclusions: the average gender gap is very small (statistically insignificant), and the fact that the differences tend to decline with time(Friedman,2008). Another meta-analysis of 100 studies in gender and mathematics performance corroboration the above finding (Fennema & Lamon, 2010). Some scholars the colonizers of Africa for applying direct transfer of Western Science curricula, examinations and teaching methods, which fail to address the continental challenges of Africa. Yoloye (2008) submitted that the result of this direct transfer of western curricula is a science and mathematics education in most African countries that is exemplified by decontextualized knowledge being transmitted by poorly trained teachers in under-resourced and sometimes overcrowded classrooms. As a consequence, the situation in Nigeria is that, academic performance in Mathematics education is still deplorably low, both in certificate and non certificate examinations. Many researchers identify inherent unfairness in schoolbased assessment (Grifith, Njabili, et al. 2005; Asim, 2007) which may result from teachers' incompetency in assessment (Asim, et al. 2007), as well as psycho-cultural factors among others as being responsible for this anomaly (Enukoha, 2005; Obodo, 2007; west African Examination Council, 2002). This poor Mathematics performance of students is further worsened by gender imbalance leading to the problem which now constitutes a major research focus across the globe (UNESCO, 2003). 34 In a study by Opolot-Okurut (2005) it was found that for all the attitudinal variables (anxiety, confidence and motivation), males had higher mean scores than females. that is, differences in student attitude toward mathematics based on gender were confirmed. Attitudes are known to have positive relationship with student achievement. This may be an indication that males perform better than females mathematically as a result of their higher attitude scores. It is believed that bridging gender gap is one major way of achieving egalitarianism and enhancing human a disparity has been reported in literatures in the achievement of males and females mathematics. Reasons were advanced for the difference in the performance of the Sexes in mathematics achievement. Aiken (2001), and Maccoby & Jackling (2004) reported that, lack of female role model is a factor in sex differences in mathematics education. Buamrind (2002) & Nash (2002) in Barbara & Barbara (2004) also reported that socialization of most women discouraged or suppressed their interest in mathematics. Wood (2006) also suggested that the discrepancy in higher level mathematics achievement between males and females may be a function of latter attainment of the formal operational stage by the females. Fox, Fennerna& Sherman (2007) however, suggested that the difference between males and females result because of career aspiration especially since the females would not be attracted much to engineering, physics and mathematics which they view as the domain of males. Fennema& Sherman (2007) also reported that both male and females viewed mathematics as a domain of the males. The present study was interested in gender influence (especially on those female characteristics that predisposes them to taking mathematics and of course Mathematics related courses at tertiary levels) in Nigerian educational setting where 35 sciences and mathematics has masculine image and the traditional attitude of the society towards the education of students as to invest more on the education of boys and girls.