Factors influencing learners’ performance in Geography in the National Senior Certificate Examination in selected public high schools within uThungulu District
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Date
2017
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University of Zululand
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify factors that influence the low academic performance of learners in geography during the National Senior Certificate examination within the uThungulu District. The study made use of the national and district matriculation results from the examination directorate of the Department of Basic Education. The conceptualisation developed from the contemporary literature was used to develop instruments for data collection. A questionnaire was developed to collect views from Grade 12 geography educators on factors influencing learner performance in the district. It also solicited ideas about what should be done to improve learner performance in the subject. The second phase of data collection was qualitative study, which was conducted to augment the quantitative findings, which took place at the same time. Fifty (50) questionnaires were issued and only forty (40) educators responded and ten (10) other educators were taken through an interview. The district geography subject adviser was also interviewed. The results indicate that there are various factors that impede learner performances in geography in the district. The results from both descriptive and inferential statistics reveal factors such as educator characteristics, school management and resource availability, parental involvement in education and learner characteristics as emerging factors influencing the performance of learners in geography. Learners’ average matriculation (matric) results from the schools were estimated against educators’ characteristics such as qualifications, experience in teaching the subject, approaches used in teaching, and matric marking experience. The relationship between the independent and the dependent variables was determined using the t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The result indicated that in the uThungulu District learners’ performance in geography is strongly influenced by educators’ qualifications, and experience in matric marking. Findings from the this study were compared with the existing contemporary literature to enable the researcher to make recommendations to stakeholders to remedy deficiencies found to impede learners’ performance in geography in the National Senior Certificate in public high schools within the uThungulu District.
Description
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education (Geography) in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the University of Zululand, 2017
Keywords
performance --geography --National Senior Certificate --uThungulu --learners