What Makes Mathematics Difficult as a Subject for most Students in Higher Education?

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges of a teacher is making mathematics easy for the students. Since mathematics subject in Higher Education is of a higher level than those introduced in the secondary and elementary levels, more and more students tend to find the most difficulty with it in higher education. With this, from the perspective of the students, this study aims to identify the root causes of mathematics difficulty whilst identifying possible solutions to this problem based on what students experienced. The utilization of qualitative research design was employed using open-ended questions on a survey to probe students' narrative responses. The categorization of information generates themes and patterns from 263 students of Higher Education institutions. As organized, it resulted in three basic categories such as Delivery of Instruction by the teacher; Learners' Ability and Experiences; and School Environment and Facilities. With this, it is concluded that there are only three things that make mathematics difficult for students namely: teachers, students themselves, and the environment that limits there interaction. One or more of these three factors when left unnoticed might as well lead to the waste of most students' potentials.