CHAPTER ONE

1.1 RESEARCH TOPIC

An investigation into errors made by pupils when dealing with sets at form one level at
Dzivaresekwa 1 high school.

1.2 INTRODUCTION

Most pupils at Dzivaresekwa 1 high school show some negative attitude towards mathematics at
form one level. Some of the pupils drop the subject at form three level and those who continue
doing the subject, high percentage of them fail the final ordinary level examinations. The low
pass-rate in mathematics at ordinary level at Dzivaresekwa 1 high school in 2015 has pushed the
researcher to undertake the study. The researcher is mainly focusing on errors made by form 1E3
pupils at Dzivaresekwa 1 high school when dealing with sets. The chapter will focus on the
statement of the problem and the objectives of the study. Furthermore, the chapter will focus on
delimitations and limitations of the research process and the significance of the study.

1.3 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

During teaching practice at Dzivaresekwa 1 high school, situated in Dzivaresekwa residential

area in Warren park- Malbereign district in Harare province, the researcher noted that pupils had
difficulties on manipulating sets. She noted that errors like drawing and interpreting Venn
diagrams incorrectly and wrong use of set operations such as the union and intersection were the
most common errors made by pupils. Repetition of these errors by the majority of pupils has
pushed the student teacher to carry out the study. The fact that the topic sets is one of the major
exam topics at ordinary level and forms foundation for further studies in mathematics forced the
researcher to dig into causes of errors made by pupils. The head of mathematics department and
other mathematics teachers were of the view that pupils fail this subject, particularly sets because
of quite a number of factors. Negative attitude towards the subject, teacher to pupil relationship,
influence of parents on childrens education, motivation and teaching methods are some of the
factors. Having been assigned to teach form ones, the student teacher is interested to discover

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why pupils have difficulties in solving mathematical problems involving sets in class, written
exercises and tests.

1.4 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Form 1 pupils at Dzivaresekwa 1 high school face problems in manipulating set operations and
Venn diagrams. The errors include wrong use of set operations and misinterpretation of
information on Venn diagrams. The researcher therefore tries to find out the causes of the errors
and to give possible remedy to minimize those errors.

1.5 SUB-RESEARCH QUESTIONS

What are the errors made by form one pupils when dealing with sets?
What are the possible causes of the errors?
What can be done to minimize such errors?

1.6 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The research seeks to:

find out errors made by form one pupils when dealing with set operations and Venn
diagrams.
Identify the possible causes of these errors.
Suggest strategies that can be implemented to reduce such errors.

1.7 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY

There are some vital aspects to be noted in the carrying out of this research. These include the
benefits which the study spearheaded to pupils, teachers, researchers, educational managers and
policy makers. If pupils know how to use set operation correctly, to draw and interpret Venn
diagrams perfectly at form one level, they will not have any problems in further studies. The fact
that the topic sets is done through out a four year course (form one to form four), there is need

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for pupils to build a strong and firm foundation of the topic. This will make life easier for pupils
as they pursue their studies. The research will help to come up with possible solutions to raise
pupils pass-rate in this subject area. Teachers will also benefit when planning their work and will
become knowledgeable. The project is designed in such a way that it tries to bring light to some
of the common problems which secondary school teachers face in trying to make pupils
understand and pass mathematics.

1.8 DELIMITATIONS

Dzivaresekwa 1 high school is a government school situated in Dzivaresekwa high density

suburbs about 20km from Harares Central Business District (CBD). It is located in Mashonsland
Central province in Zimbabwe. The researcher will be carrying out her project in form 1E3 class
and only 20 pupils will be involved in the study. The student teacher is going to use random
selection where pupils will be asked to pick papers written YES or NO. Those who pick
YES papers will be used for the study.

1.9LIMITATIONS

Being a student teacher at Dzivaresekwa 1 high school, the researcher does not have adequate
time in compilation of data, since most of time is fixed on school work. Moreover, the school has
a hot sitting timetable, hence most of the pupils time is controlled and limited by the general
school programs. The researcher has to fix her time and the pupils time before the beginning of
their learning session to discuss issues related to the study.

Furthermore, questionnaires have to be typed and printed and providing stationery to the sample
number of pupils give the researcher some financial restrictions. On monthly basis, the student
teacher is meeting some transport costs during her visits to the college to discuss issues
concerning the project with the supervisor, up to the end of the study.

In addition, the student teacher faces challenges on selecting pupils for the study as the size of
the class is too big and most pupils are interested to take part in the research. The size of the class

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also causes shortage of resources such as textbooks and internet facilities. The researcher does
not have access to free internet facility all the time because of schools financial hardships.

1.10 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Error- Wang (2000) defines an error as a mistake or failure to grasp or remember specific
concepts or rules.
Webster (2003) defines an error as an unintentional deviation from truth.
Channon (2007) defines an error as something wrongly done or inaccuracy.

Sets- a set is an allied group of things belonging together, as defined by Smith (2001).
Operation- a mark or an emblem representing something, Hall (2002).
Learning- Macmillan (2002) defines learning as the process of gaining knowledge and
experience.

1.11 CONCLUSION

This chapter outlined the background of the study on sets and errors made by pupils
when dealing with sets at form one level at Dzivaresekwa 1 high school. Research
questions were also established to allow the student teacher to move on with the
project. The importance to the study was given which mentioned ideas, methods and
purpose of the research. Delimitations and limitations are also given in chapter one.
The next chapter is going to look on literature review.

Chapter two

2.1 review of related literature

Introduction

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This chapter is going to look on related literature to the study being carried out. The reseaerccher
also seeks to either agree or disagree with the conclusion drawn by some authority in terms of
errors made by pupils when dealing with sets. Ths chapter is also going to look into factors that
can contribute to errors made by pupils when dealing with sets. Errors fall in a variety of
categories as noted by Hall (2002). He suggests that errors made are not necessarily just as a
matter of carelessness or not knowing how to proceed by, but they vary in terms of their
complexity.

2.2 errors

According to Webster (2003) an error is an unintentional deviation from the truth or inaccuracy.
A person may have an idea of what is supposed to be done but fails to go through other steps in
terms of computation. In their study of written computations, Godda (2001) came up with two
error groups which are; wrong operation and ob vious computation errors.

Wrong operation errors

This is when pupil attempts to respond by performing an operation other than the one that is
required to solve the prolem. Pupils will misunderstand set operation. This include inappropriate

position of set operations like , . For example given that

={ even numbers less than10 } , A= { 2; 4 ; 6 }B={}

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