The complexity of teaching school Mathematics

Abstract

Many studies had recorded poor performance among students in school mathematics. The causes of these phenomena are associated with numerous factors. Many suggestions had been put forward to overcome the poor performance in the subject. However the solutions did not last for a very long time because of the changing factors that contributing to the problems. Therefore, a systematic approach to improve the poor performance should be embraced and proposed. This is where human performance technology (HPT) plays an important role to address such situation. This paper attempts to describe the complexity of teaching school mathematics by using performer analysis as one component in HPT. The performers in school mathematics are students and teachers. They are analyzed to understand this complexity of teaching school mathematics. Once this complexity is understood, all causes either direct or indirect to the poor performance are necessary to be determined. This study employs the multiple case studies method to understand and manage complexity of teaching school mathematics.