Implication of Mathematical tools to Teachers’ Method of Teaching High School Mathematics: The case of Mekelle Zone, Tigray, Ethiopia

Abstract

Education with science and mathematics as its major components determines the level of welfare of people and a nation. Nowadays, great attention is given to technological advancements and mathematics education. Hence, this paper explicitly discusses the use of mathematics laboratories and their implication for teaching mathematics, finding out the practices and impact on teaching mathematics and teachers’ frequency of using teaching aids (manipulatives) in high schools of Mekelle zone. Manipulatives are valuable aid to teachers that can be used by analyzing students’ concrete representations of mathematical concepts. In addition to this, topics like geometry and measurement are topics that are frequently taught using tools. On the contrary, solving equations, relations, and functions is rarely taught using these manipulatives. This study indicates that there is no direct correlation between teachers’ teaching experience years and the use of manipulatives in their classrooms. It is, therefore, recommended that mathematics teachers should get training and workshops on the use of teaching aids (manipulatives), useful software like (geogebra, sketchpad, and other timely used technologies) and other methods of teaching mathematics in mathematics laboratories.