Performance of students with visual impairments in mathematics in Ghana National and St. Joseph Basic Schools in Ghana

Abstract

This study employed sequential explanatory design to find out the performance of students with visual impairments in mathematics in the Ghana National and St. Joseph Basic Schools in Ghana. Sixty students with visual impairments and two mathematics teachers were purposively sampled for the study. Documentary analysis, questionnaires and one-on-one interview were used to elicit data for the study. The data gathered were analysed using descriptive statistical tools such as simple percentages, frequency, mean and standard deviations. The results of the study revealed that the performance of students with visual impairments in mathematics was below average. The findings also revealed that the students’ performances in multiplication and division were low. The findings further showed that, teachers’ and students’ attitude, teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge in mathematics, class size, non-availability and inadequacy of teaching and learning resources were some of the factors that hampered students with visual impairments’ performance in mathematics. Additionally, the findings showed that, recruitment of more qualified mathematics teachers, verbal descriptions of instructions and adaptation of mathematics materials were some of the strategies that could be adopted to improve the performance of the students. It was recommended that the Ghana Education Service (GES) should collaborate with school heads to organize in-service training, seminars, and workshops for regular education teachers on how to teach mathematics to students with visual impairments.