CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the study

It is an underivable fact that mathematics is one of the major subjects in the school

curriculum which must be studied by students at all levels in the Ghanaian education

system. Even though mathematics is one of the simplest but difficult subjects in

education, it helps an individual, society, and the nation as a whole in one way or the

other. Mathematics is used in science, agriculture, technology, governance, and

economics.

Mathematics helps us to know about money and be able to make simple calculations in

selling and buying with the use of addition, subtraction, division, multiplication,

measurement, and counting concepts.

Mathematics is an important subject in life such that the Mathematics Association of

Ghana (1997) stated that development in almost all areas of life is based on effective

knowledge of Mathematics and Science.

In Ghana, Mathematics features prominently in the school curriculum from the basic

school level to the tertiary level. It is one of the core subjects and is a mandatory

requirement before one enters the Senior High School and then the tertiary institution.

Despite its importance and the role it plays in human life, most students perform poorly

in Mathematics in the major exams conducted, by the West African Examination Council

(WAEC).

Addition (+) is one of the important factors influencing participation and success in

Mathematics. The inability of pupils to add three (3) digit numbers is based on the fact

that pupils do not have enough knowledge about the concept of place values. This,

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therefore, influences adding numbers which involve regrouping and remainders. Pupils

normally add and tend to write the entire two digits in one place as their answer.

Statement of the Problem

The researcher, who teaches Mathematics in Basic Six 6) has observed most of the

students perform poorly in Mathematics. The researcher perceived that the pupils could

not add three (3) digit numbers which made them dislike Mathematics as compared to

other subjects. It was also observed that some pupils pretended to be sick during

Mathematics lessons but got well as soon as the Mathematics lessons were over. Besides,

some pupils even come to school late realizing that Mathematics lessons were held very

early in the morning: This observation and perceived problem have motivated the

researcher to research into why pupils cannot add three (3) digit numbers in place value.

The researcher intends to solve this problem by using bundles of sticks and abacus.

Perceived Problem

The researcher perceived that the pupils do not have the concept of place making them

unable to add three (3) digit numbers.

Problem Diagnosis

The researcher discovered that about 75% of the pupils in the class could not do the

addition of three (3) digits of Mathematics questions when written on the chalkboard

during the Mathematics lesson.

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 Evidence of the Problem

 The inability of pupils to add three (3) digit numbers

 Pupils even come to school late realizing that Mathematics lessons were held very

early in the morning.

Cause of the Problem

 The Mathematics teacher mostly uses the lecture method with no teaching

learning materials which makes the lessons boring, uninteresting, and difficult to

study.

 Inadequate knowledge of place value.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study was to;

 Help the pupils with the concept of place value.

 Help the pupils add three (3) digit numbers through the use of an abacus and

bundle of sticks

 The study sought to outline strategies to help Basic Six (6) of Hohoe M/A

Experimental Primary School to overcome the problem of working with adding

three (3) digit numbers.

Research Objectives

Among other things, the study focused on enabling students of Basic Six (6):

 Overcome their difficulties in place value involving the addition of three (3) digit

numbers

 Use bundles of sticks and abacus to add three (3) digit numbers.

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  To inform teachers about the appropriate method and materials to use for teaching

place value concept

Research Questions

The following question guided the study

1. To what extent would the use of an abacus and bundles of sticks help pupils

overcome their difficulties in adding 3-digit numbers?

2. To what extent will the concept of place value help pupils add three (3) digit

numbers?

Significance of the Study

The teaching and learning of addition in Mathematics is a greater matter to both teachers

and students. The study when completed would provide an opportunity for teachers and

students. The study when completed would provide an opportunity for teachers with

some problems to improve upon their pedagogical skills in teaching place value.

It would also serve as a source of literature for anybody who undertakes a study that is

connected with a place value of three (3) digit numbers.

Delimitation

Research of this nature should have covered all the classes in many schools. However,

this research was delimited to basic six pupils at Hohoe M/A Experimental Primary

School.

Organization of the Study

The study was organized into chapters.

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Chapter one (1) which was stated above was made up of the introduction. This had the

background of the study, statement of the problem, the purpose of the study, research

questions, delimitation, and the organization of the study.

Chapter two (2) dealt with the literature review.

Chapter three (3) was on the methodology employed for the study. This has sub-headings

such as the research design, population, sampling, and research instrument. It also looked

at the pre-test and post-test interventions.

Chapter four (4) had data presentation and analysis. The analysis was based on the data

collected on examiners pre-test and post-test and interventions.

They were analyzed based on the research questions and discussions of the findings.

Chapter Five gives a summary, conclusion, and recommendations for the study. All of

these were based on the findings of the study.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

The chapter reviews the relevant literature for the study. This encompasses the theoretical

and empirical views, on the concept of ‘place value’, definitions of some terms, how to

teach the concept, how children study numbers, views of some authors on the concept,

and the summary.

Theoretical

These are some of the theories about the concept: Paling (1986) states that before we start

to discuss ways of introducing the use of place value in addition to children, it is essential

to bring to mind the various methods that can be used for teaching addition involving

place value or remaining.

What is mathematics?

According to Microsoft Encarta (2009), it is the study of the relationships among

numbers, shapes, and quantities. It uses signs, symbols, and proofs and includes

arithmetic, algebra, calculus, geometry, and trigonometry.

Also, Brewer (1998), argues that the term mathematics is “the science of numbers and

their operations, interrelations, combinations, space configurations, and their structure,

measurement, transformations and generalizations” (p. 302).

According to Van de Walle (2003), for your children, mathematics is the way of viewing

the world and their experiences in it. It is the way of solving real problems. It is an

understanding of numbers, operations on numbers, functions, relations, probability, and

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measurement. It is much more than the pages of simple equations that you may remember

working as a child.

The concept of place value

Simpson and Weiner (1989) intimate that place value is the numerical value that a digit

has by its position in a number. This is suggestible that every given digit in a numeral

represents a specific value which can vary from one numeral to other.

In another instance, Clemson et al (1998) also argues that place value is the key concept

that gives structure to our number system. They further contend that an understanding of

place value requires children to appreciate the idea of a set, grouping and counting in

groups and realize that the value of a digit is determined by its place and that it behooves

on teachers to let children recognize our number system, groups and count in tens. This is

however one of the possible systems that can be used or have been and are used around

the world.

Haylock and Cockburn (1989) opine that place value is the basis of our Hindu-Arabic

number system that enable us to represent all numbers by using ten digits and that the

value that digit represents is determined by its place (going from right to left) the first

value representing ‘ones’ , the second ‘ten’ n, the next ‘hundreds’ and so on with

increasing powers of ten-thus the digit 4 as in 426 represents a value which is ten (10)

times greater than it does in figure 45 by virtue of this analogy of the concept of place

value, it behooves on teachers and other mathematics facilitators to appreciate the fact

that children’s proper understanding of concept of place value will form essential basis

for progress in arithmetic.

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According to Brillstein (1993), place value means the value in a given numeral depends

on the placement of the symbol with respect to the other symbols in the numerals. Thus it

shows a position a symbol holds in a given number. For example: ‘84’, the 4 has place

value of ‘one’ as the 8 has a place value of ‘tens’.

Paling, (1982) states that place value is a system for writing numbers especially numbers

greater than ten (10). Further, the value shown by a numeral depends upon its place. He

also states that it is important that children have solid understanding of this concept, for

many of the standard procedures in mathematics depend on it.

Empirical view

The teaching of place value involves three elements these are convection, algorithm, (a

logical step-by-step procedure for solving a mathematical problem in a finite number of

steps, often involving repletion of the same basic operation) manipulation, and

conceptual relationship.

Teachers in basic schools who teach place value concepts need to update their knowledge

with these three elements. Garlikor (1989) stressed that to him, effective teaching of

addition with renaming requires more than the mechanical application of different

methods of manipulation.

In the first place, it is necessary to distinguish among mathematical convections,

algorithm manipulation, and logical conventional relationships and it is necessary to

understand that each of these requires a different activity or method for effective

teaching.

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In teaching addition operation, children should be taken through practical activities to

revise the addition of facts (Benson, 2000). This implies that children must be allowed to

use concrete objects to count and add before they are introduced to the abstract way of

adding.

William and Hillary, (1963) citing Keedy, Jameson, and Johnson (1960), explain

operation on addition as an action that can return to its starting point and which can be

integrated with other actions and also possesses the feature of reversibility. They stress

that a child can think logically provided his or her thinking is guided using real things and

actual situations. They continue by saying that it is important to start the operation of

addition with two separate sets and combine them to make a total set. Through this, the

child will abstract the mathematical operation of addition from all the situations of

forming the union of sets that he or she needs.

Jones and Thornton (1993 pg. 12) stated that investigation into areas of pupils’

difficulties in learning place value concepts revealed that despite several years of place

value learning, pupils were unable to interpret rudimentary place value concepts.

Teachers will have to innovate and reconsider some educational practices to make the

topic more child-centered (Graham et al, 1996 pg. 300).

Factors affecting teaching and learning of addition

An observation made by Orton (2006) revealed that “children’s difficulties in

understanding concepts in the classroom stems from the way presentation of the concept

is done due to different learning abilities and experiences, the nature of the concept

disagreement between definitions, example many teachers think that renaming is

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different from regrouping. Also, the remainder is different from carrying, meanwhile they

are the same.

According to Lockheed and Vespoor (1991), child labor and lack of parental supervision

of those who are not able to do their homework and practice what they are taught in class

face problems because the introduction of new topics or subheadings in addition to needs

previous lessons or knowledge.

According to Orton (2000), Language affects the study of the addition of two (2) digit

numbers involving place value. Children encounter difficulties because; they do not

understand the words used by the teachers when the concepts are being introduced. Even

if the vocabulary is appropriate, they find it hard to understand the mathematical tense

and therefore interpret statements literally, but this sometimes changes the meaning of

what the teacher intends to say.

Errors pupils make when working with place value

Research has shown most basic school pupils make numerous errors when doing the

addition of place value.

Adusei, (2006) quoting Jones and Thorton opines that investigating into areas of pupils’

difficulties in learning place value concepts revealed that despite several years of place

value learning, pupils are enable to interpret rudimentary place value concepts (pg. 5).

This means that despite the considerable efforts that teachers make aiming at helping

children conceptualize the concept of place value, the problem or difficulties of pupils in

learning place value persist.

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In another instance, Biggs and Sutton (1989) observed that children’s difficulties in

learning place value emanate from the fact that the change in value of each number

symbol according to its position in a numeral makes the concept of place value difficult

for pupils to understand. Biggs and Sutton cited examples in situations like ‘69’ where 6

as ‘60’ now becomes a larger number than 7 in their counting numbers lesson.

Besides, another common error and difficulty that confronts children in adding two (2)

digit numbers involving place value is the error of “carrying forward” renaming or

regrouping effect. As children carry tens and hundreds from the units and tens columns

respectively they fail to recognize their positional values.

Below are some common errors pupils commit when working with the addition of two

(2) digit numbers with renaming.

1. 19 2.67 3.39
+69 +35 +37
718 912 616
From the above examples, children do not have respect for renaming and thereby write

down whatever sum they got for one column instead of carrying the remainder to the tens

Column.

Resource Materials for teaching place value

A sound knowledge of place value is important for a full understanding of the algorithms

for addition, children will need a great deal of experience of the actions associated with

place value name grouping, regrouping renaming, and exchanging. In the first instance,

these experiences should be with concrete learning materials. Children should be able to

split a set into subsets, into sets of sets of equal sizes. It is not enough for children to be

able to group only in tens; they should be encouraged to group in groups of any size.

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It was very important for the researcher to introduce concrete materials in the initial

lessons and gradually to semi-concrete materials before abstract representation. This the

researcher did to help children understand the concept of ‘place value’ or renaming

following shreds of evidence and causes.

Teaching and learning materials are very necessary when teaching topics like the addition

of two (2) digit numbers with renaming.

According to Palmas et al (2007), teaching and learning materials such as bundles of

sticks Abacus, and multi-base blocks are visually used by classroom facilitators to

elaborate more on a concept to ease the transition of knowledge. When these teaching

and learning materials are used appropriately, they help make lessons practical and real.

They help save time and energy because; fewer words are used to explain concepts.

Another essential reason is that when concrete and pictures are used in teaching, pupils

begin to have the opportunity to interact with the objects and their colleagues and thereby

make the learner active in the lesson, when they are done, boredom is highly reduced.

Furthermore, these materials promote the development of generics for learning. These

skills include observation, measuring, and recording.

Dondieu (2001), argues that using teaching and learning materials like multi-base blocks

abacus, and bundle of sticks in teaching a topic of this nature, helps to stimulate the

interest of the child, make the class lively, involve the child in the lesson, higher

participation in the lesson is assured, enhances memory retention and thereby be able to

associate concepts and theories.

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Below are brief descriptions of several different teaching aids you might use in teaching

place value.

1. Multi base Blocks: it is a material used for teaching place value. This multi base is

sometimes called Diene’s Block or Tilich Block.

This consists of a number of small cubes, rods, flat squares and large cubes such that:

10 small cubes = 1 rod

10 rods = 1 flat and

Example of multi base block of ‘tens’ and ‘ones’/unit

2. The next teaching material that can be used for teaching place value is “the almighty”

abacus. An abacus consists of several rows of beads threaded on wire. Beads on each

proceeding row are worth ten beads from the row before. Abacus does not represent

numbers ‘Structurally’ as do the multi base and bundle of sticks. A ten beads does not

like 10 ‘unit’ beads.

This abacus can be constructed from wood or metal, beads, bottle tops, etc. as said earlier

on abacus does not represent values of numbers structurally. The value of each rod of bar

in an abacus is determine by the user as to which rod represent the ‘unit’ ‘ten’ ‘hundred’

and so on.

Examples of Abacus

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Bundling sticks: These consist of a number of sticks, (for units) which can be tied

together into groups (of ten) these groups could be further grouped to form hundreds and

so on.

Examples of bundles of sticks

All these materials will help to reduce the difficulties pupils have in understanding

addition of two-digit numbers with value as well as teachers difficulties in teaching this

concept.

Tasson and Gough, (2005) argue that sometimes children have anger and deeper

frustration when teachers do not use appropriate teaching and learning materials in

teaching them.

Conclusion

Through the views of these authors it is presuppose that children should be at the center

of the lesson with involvement of educational activities and relevant teaching and

learning material for teaching place value concept in mathematics.

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 CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

Overview

This chapter focuses on the following: the research design, setting, population, sampling

technique, intervention design and implementation, data collection technique, type of

data to be collected and data analysis.

Research design

The research design for this study is an action research. According to Kafui (2005) an

action research is a study that is conducted with immediate solution to a local problem.

It is a type of applied research.

He also specified that an action research is a form of enquiry that enable practitioner to

investigate and evaluate their work. It is done by practitioners themselves rather than a

professional researcher.

This design was chosen because; it involves a systematic approach with intervention

embedded in the process. The steps used to solve problems with this format are orderly,

which means at the end, a solution is found. It is mostly concerned with diagnosing a

problem in a specific context and attempting to solve it. In another vein that format is a

participatory type of research where the researcher or practitioner and pupils worked

together in finding solution to the problem. This is because, it involves around finding

15
solutions to a local problem. They involved addition of two(2) digit numbers with the aid

of appropriate teaching method and learning materials.

Setting

This research has conducted at Hohoe M/A Experimental Primary School, within Hohoe

Municipal District, in the Volta Region of Ghana. The population of the town is within

the margin of 20, 000 plus according to 2-10 population and housing census conducted.

This report indicates that about 15% of the populations are farmers, 25% are traders, 45%

are children, 5% being white collar job workers (teachers, doctors and nurses) and the

remaining 10% are students of University of Education, Winneba.

Population

The target population for the study includes the basic pupils of Hohoe, in the Volta

Region. However, the accessible that was involved in the study was the basic pupils of

Hohoe M/A Experimental Primary School.

The population for this study was basic six (6) pupils’ of Hohoe M/A Experimental

Primary School. This class consists of twenty-six (26) boys and thirty-three (33) girls.

The population was fifty-nine (59) pupils.

Sampling technique

The sampling technique used for selecting pupils for the study was the purposive or

judgment sampling technique. Twenty (20) pupils of basic six at Hohoe M/A

Experimental Primary School, who found it difficult to do addition of two (2) digit

numbers with renaming, were selected as the sample.

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 Interventions

The intervention began with selecting teaching and learning materials such as improved

abacus, multi base block and bundles and loose sticks and loose ones for teaching the

concept of place value.

The major intervention that the researcher adopted for the study was activity-oriented

method technique. Other smaller interventions involved employment of base ten

materials to assist pupils to regroup ‘ones’ and ‘tens’. Also the use of algorithm to guide

pupils to develop the concept of ‘units’ and ‘ten’ and lastly the use of abacus, bundles

and loose sticks in order to assist pupils to identify and add the ‘one’ and ‘tens’ of

numerals.

Implementation of the intervention

A total of five weeks was used for the intervention. This started on the 14th of March,

2016 to 13th of April, 2016.

The intervention was carried out after normal class hours on every Wednesday and

Friday of each week at exactly 2:10pm prompt lasting for a period of 30 minutes. The

reason for this arrangement outside normal school schedule was to avoid clashes with

routine lessons planned by the school. It also offered an ample time for implementing the

activities of the intervention to attain the set objectives of the study.

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 Week one (1)

Pre –test

On the first day of the intervention week that was on the 14th of March, 2016, the

researcher administered a pre-test, which was made up of five questions. The reason

behind the administration of this pre-test was to collate or gather data on pupils’

performance as the baseline to compare with post test results.

On Friday, 16th March, 2016 of the first week, I selected the twenty pupils who performed

below average in the pre-test exercise and introduced them to some technical words in

addition of 2-digit numbers involving place value.

I introduced the pupils to the vocabularies they needed to know in addition. They

included add, plus, sum, put together, makes, ones, tens and is equals to and then, the

various symbols that represent the various vocabularies were also introduced. This was

done to enhance the understanding of the various ways in which the concept of addition

involving place value could be done.

The sample of the pre-test questions and pupils’ responds can be found in appendix A.

Week two (2)

On Wednesday, 21st of March, 2016 in the first day of second week, the researcher

assisted pupils to use beads to represent the values of two (2)digits numerals on the ‘one’

and ‘tens’ columns on the abacus.

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In line with the objectives of this study, the abacus was used to assist pupils to know the

values of 2-digt numbers of abacus with the aid of the prepared abacus. These 2-digit

numbers 85 and 68 were represented on the abacus as shown below.

In doing this, the researcher put the children into Four groups of five and assisted the

children by telling them that the ‘unit’ also known as the ‘ones’ is found on the right hand

side of the abacus while the ‘tens; is found at the left hand side of the abacus. This means

that the ‘tens’ is the first number at the left (i.e. 8’ in the case of 85), the ‘ones/units’ is at

the right side (i.e. ‘5’ in the case of 85).

The researcher guided pupils to do this activity with several 2-digit numbers such as 54

(5 ‘tens’ 4 ‘ones’) 48 (4 ‘tens’ 8’ones’) 74 (7 ‘tens’ 4’ones’)

On the second meeting of the second week that was Friday, 23rd March, 2016 the

researcher than introduced children to addition of 2-digit numbers involving place value

using four different abacuses.

Examples: 45+47

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In this activity, the researcher explained to the children that whenever, the beads are more

than 9 at ‘one/unit’ column, 10 beads are taken as one whole and added to the beads at

the ‘tens’ column, living 2 beads at the ones/unit column and making 9 beads at the tens

column giving the answer 92 (9 tens 2 ones)

In another example: 66 + 29 were represented diagrammatically as follows:

Week three (3)

On the first day of the third week Wednesday, 28th March 2016, the researcher conducted

post-test on the use of abacus to do addition of two (2) digit numbers involving place

value, to assess children’s ability on the use of the first teaching and learning material

(abacus).

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On the last day of the third week (i.e. Friday 30th March 2016), the objective of the lesson

was to help children to add two (2) digit numbers involving place value using the Diene’s

block/ multi-base block, or Tillich Block. The researcher did by guiding pupils to use the

blocks to add two different two (2) digit numbers bearing in mind the concept of place

value.

For example, pupils were guided to add 37 + 17 by picking 3 longs and 7 cubes to

represent 37. In similar vein, children were made to represent the numeral 17 by 1 long

and 7 cubes.

37 + 17 is shown diagrammatically below:

Children were guided to do several examples such as 53 + 39 and 33 + 46 using the

Diene’s block.

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In this activity, children were asked to represent 53 by picking 5 long blocks and 3

smaller cubes. Numeral 39 was represented by picking 3 long blocks and 9 smaller cubes.

The cubes were then added to 12 cubes which were more than 9 cubes. In this case, 10

cubes were taken out of the 12 cubes to form 1 long block, 2 cubes were left as ones and

the 1 long block was added to 8 long blocks to get 9 blocks as tens therefore, the answer

for 53 + 39 was 92 (9 tens and 2 ones). Similar thing was done for 33 + 46.

Week four (4)

Activity for this week was the use of bundles of sticks to assist children to carry out

addition of algorithm involving 2-digity numbers with regrouping based on the demand

of the objective of the study.

Example: 14 + 28=

In this activity, children were guided to represent 1 in 14 as 1 bundle of sticks and 4 loose

sticks. Also children were guided to represent 28 as 2 bundles of sticks and 8 loose ones.

This was represented diagrammatically as follow

On Friday, 6th April, 2016 in the fourth week, I put the children into five groups of four

and guided them to use the bundle of sticks to do addition of two (2) digit numbers

22
involving place value after which I conducted a post-test on the use of bundle of sticks

and loose one.

Sample of the post-test questions and the marking scheme on the use of bundle of sticks

and loose ones be found in Appendix B.

Week five (5)

The activity for the first day of week five 11th April 2016 was revision of all the activities

I took the children through within the week.

On Friday, 13th April, 2016 in the fifth week, I conducted a post- test. This was done to

find out whether the pupils truly grasped the concept of place value, and also to assess

whether there were any improvement over the pre-test.

See Appendix B for the samples of the post –test quests and the marking scheme.

Problems encountered

Almost every research work is bond to pose some sort of problem. I encountered the

following problems;

 Pupil’s had difficulties in finding the positional values of the numerals using the

abacus.

 Large class size during the conduction of the pre-test exercise made it difficult for

the supervision of individual activities.

 Inadequate resource material’s such as abacus, multi base blocks and bundle of

sticks were encountered.

 Preparation of teaching and learning materials took time and money.

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  Parents’ interface in using the children for the study outside normal class hours

was encountered. Pupils Parents who had to pick up their wards were unprepared

and unhappy to stay for that hour before taking their wards home. Pupils therefore

skipped the class with an excuse that they had to join the main school bus.

It was observed during the interventional period that some of the pupils had hearing and

sight problem, and as such could not see the numerals properly from the whiteboard.

The intervention activities coincided with the Municipal music and culture festival which

the school took active part in this programme. This affected the smooth implementation

of the programme thus extending the period.

Absenteeism on the part of some pupils during the intervention stage also affected the

programme. The researcher had to use different motivational techniques including gifts to

encourage the pupils to be regular for the study.

Instrument used for collection of data

Observation

The researcher developed observational check list, this contained the name, age and the

description of altitude of the children.

Observation: It is the critical look at an event or situation giving attention to details of

behavior and unusual happening. In this, individuals and groups were observed during the

implementation period. Observation was used initially to assess the reality of the

problem. Critical watch was kept on pupils during lesson delivery and responses of pupils

when they were asked to do addition of 2-digit numbers with regrouping.

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Interview: This is a constant talk to people and questions were asked about what was

observed. I asked questions and wrote down the responses for analysis later.

I interviewed both the class teacher and the sample pupils under study. See appendix C

for the sample of the interview questions.

Test: Test items were in form of questions based on what was taught, what pupils

supposed to know and to assess the knowledge about what was yet to be taught. Test in

this context was used to diagnose the extent to which the problem existed. It was used at

the pre-interventional stages. See the Appendixes for the details.

Data collection procedure

This section covered three stages namely pre-intervention, intervention and post-

intervention. At the pre-intervention stage an observation checklist and test were used to

diagnose the problem understudy.

The test items were developed on addition of 2-digit numbers involving place value.

Also, at the pre-intervention stage, an interview guide was used to obtain information

from the pupils who formed the sample size. The class teacher was also interviewed.

These entire interviews were done during break time. Answers given by respondents

were analyzed and placed in table form in chapter four.

Data analysis

The method used in analyzing the data of pupils’ performance was simple numerical

table and percentages.

The researcher collected data on pre-test, post-test interview and observation, the

information were put in numerical values in a table form.

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 CHAPTER FOUR

DATA REPRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

Overview

This chapter deals with the presentation, analysis and discussions of the data collected for

evidence and data collected after the implementation of the intervention strategies.

Data Presentation and Analysis

The researcher conducted a pre-test before the intervention was implemented in order to

identify the strength and weaknesses of the pupil.

Due to the poor performance of the pupils, the researcher was compelled to use the whole

class so that they could benefit the program.

Table 1 represents the outcome of the pre-test.

Table 1. The outcome of the pre-test

Score frequency Percentage

1 12 39%

2 5 16%

3 4 13%

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4 2 6%

5 1 3%

6 1 3%

7 3 10%

8 0 0%

9 3 10%

10 0 0%

Total 31 100%

Bar chart 1

From table 1, 12 pupils representing 39% of the total population had only 1 mark out of

10 marks. This can also be seen from bar chart 1, looking at the mark 1 against the

frequency of 12.

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Again, 5 pupils representing 16% of the population had 2 marks out of 10 that show 2

marks against frequency of 5.

Also, 4 pupils representing 13% had 3 marks out of 10. From the chart above, two

children had 4 marks representing 6%. One child had 5 marks, which represents 3. Again,

one person had 6 marks that represent 3%. Another 3 pupils representing 10% had 7

marks and nobody had 8 marks. Three pupils also had 9 marks that represent 10% and

according to the chart, nobody was able to score all the ten marks.

Table 2, summary of the pre-test result

Interpretation Score frequency percentage

Below average 0-4 23 74%

Average 5 1 3%

Above average 6-and above 7 23%

Total frequency 31 100%

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 Bar chart 2

The result was categorized into below average, average and above average in table 2 for

easy analysis and interpretation and presented chart 2, using interpretation against

frequency. According to the data in table 2 and bar chart 2, 23 pupils representing 74%

out of the 31 pupils had below average. Only one-person marks below average. Only one

person had 5, 3% which was the average mark. Again, 7 pupils representing 23% out of

total population had marks above average.

The chart 2 shows clearly that most of the pupils fell below the average marks if the

height of the bars in chart 2 is compared. This indicates the performance of the children

in the area of addition was very poor and needed immediate intervention.

Table 3, the outcome of the post-test.

Score Frequency Percentage

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1 0 0%

2 0 0%

3 2 6%

4 3 10%

5 4 13%

6 2 6%

7 4 13%

8 3 10%

9 5 16%

10 8 26%

Total 31 100%

Bar chart 3

Chart for the result of the post-test

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Table 4; Summary of post-test

Interpretation Score frequency Percentage

Below average 0-4 5 16%

Average 5 4 13%

Above average 6-and above 22 71%

Total frequency 31 100

Summary of post-test

Chart 4

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According to table 4, data shows that 22 out of the total population of 31 pupils which

represent 71% had marks above average as compared to the pretest in which 7 pupils

representing 23% had above average. Again, the pupils who had average marks also

increased. Out of the total population of 31 pupils, 4 had average marks, which represent

13% as compared to the pretest in which only a child had the average mark.

Also, the number of pupils who marks below average were decrease to 5, were represent

16% as compared to the pre-test in which 23 pupils representing 74 had marks below

average.

Discussions

The researcher noticed pupils, inability to solve problems of addition to lack the use of

bundle sticks and activities like grouping and decomposition and lack of mathematical

games.

The data collected on pupils, performance in the absence of the above mentioned in the

situations in the area of addition actually reflected their poor performance in the pre-test.

In addressing the problem, the researcher made use of intervention mentioned above to

see the impacts that these would have on the performances of the pupils if not to eradicate

the problem entirely.

During the implementation of the intervention, the interest of the pupils arose from one

stage to another, as they were actively involved in the teaching and learning processes

through the use of bundle sticks, bottle tops.

32
Comparing data gathered on the performance of the pupils on pre-test, it is clear that

there has been a tremendous improvement in the pupils’ performance. This can of place

value in addition.

CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION, SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION

This chapter deals with the summary, conclusion and recommendation based on the

findings of the researcher.

Summary

The purpose was to help Hohoe M/A Experimental Primary School basic six overcome

their inability to solve the problem of place value in addition to 3-digit number. The

researcher organized a pre-test before the implementation of the intervention and the

result showed the poor performance of the pupils in the area of place value in addition.

The result was analyzed using percentages under the scoring key: below average, average

and above average.

33
The researcher made use of three research question to improve on the learners’

performance. The first and second questions were treated together to find if the use of

sticks, base ten blocks and grouping and decomposition activities could help to improve

on the pupils performance in the area of addition. The researcher used mathematical

games to find out the impact of these intervention strategies on pupils’ performance. The

data was analyzed and the result indicated that there was a tremendous improvement on

pupils’ performance as compared to the pre-test. It proved that interventional strategies

were appropriate and the pupils also understood and have from the programme.

Conclusion

The study shows that teaching and learning of place value pose challenges to teachers.

Thus, teacher’s inability to use adequate teaching and learning material and also to

employ the right methodology in teaching various topics especially place value in

mathematics. It has been established that the use of concrete and semi concrete materials

in teaching place value helped to improve pupils understanding of the concept hence

pupils performance in mathematics in general. Giving individual attention in lesson

delivery helped pupils to understand the concept of place

This research highlighted on the main problem facing Ghana education system especially

the teaching n learning of mathematic in primary schools

From the data collected n analyzed, one can infer that each of the intervention strategies

was effective. It therefore means that such intervention was effective. It solves similar

problems in future. This implies that factors such as teaching n learning material as well

as the learning environment must be carefully assessed before, during and after the

34
lesson. It is believed that when this is done in the proper way the ultimate aim of the

lesson will be achieved.

Recommendations

The researcher made the following recommendations based on the findings of the study:

 Instructors should make use of materials such as bottle tops, sticks and plant seed

which are local to assist pupils learn mathematics interesting to children through

play.

 Motivational techniques such as instance feedback, rewards and praises should be

one of the teacher’s tools because it helps to increase children’s interest in what

they learn.

 Further research on large scales basis could be carried out on the place value
concept.

 Teachers facing similar problems could adopt this research to solve them
problems

REFERENCES

Bonnie T (Internet, Google; 24/11/2016) Lessons on addition and subtraction.

Grade 2-3

Clemson, D. et al (1998). Learning target for numeracy: Cheltenham, Stanley Thorne’s

Publisher Ltd.

CRDD, (2001), Teaching syllabus for mathematics (primary schools).

Haylock F and Cockbunr. A. (1989), Understanding early year’s mathematics, London:

Paul Champing Publishing Ltd.

35
Martin, et al. (1995) mathematics for Teacher Training (Represented Students’ Activities)

Accra, (Ghana): INIMAX publisher Ltd. P,48-55.

Mooney, C & Briggs M , (2002), primary mathematics to teaching theory and practice

Glasgow: Bell and Brain Ltd.

Maaryann Wickett (Internet, google,; 24/11/2010) Lessons for introducing place value

Grade

Nabie, M.J. (2003). Fundamentals of psychology of learning mathematics. Accra:

Akonta Publishing.

Paliny, D. (1986). Teaching mathematics in primary schools. New York USA): Oxford

University press pg. 102-110

Schwieger, R.D., (1990). Teaching elementary school mathematics; Canada:

Wandsworty Publishing Company.

APPENDIX A

36
PRE-TEST

37
APPENDIX B

POST-TEST

38