"Nature is written in

mathematical language"
-Galileo Galilei

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CAUSES OF NON-NUMERACY OF
GRADE 8 STUDENTS
VISITACION MALINAO-RECTO
Baybay National High School
Baybay City Division
 BACKGROUND & RATIONALE

• Some Grade 8 students cannot perform

correctly simple addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and / or division of numbers.

• More than 1/3 overall non-numerates of the

school (School’s Numeracy Reports - Pretest, 2018 & 2019)
o 38.78% (2018 – 2019) Regional Key Stage 3
o 40.70% (2019 – 2020) Numeracy Test

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 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Which of the fundamental operation causes most

students to be classified as non-numerates?
2. What themes could be strengthened to address
the difficulty of the students in the basic
numeracy skills?
3. What numeracy enhancement program could be
designed based on the results of the study?

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 METHODOLOGY

Design
Grounded Theory Design of Qualitative Research
Theory / Content Sampling (Creswell, 2012)

Instrument
Regional Key Stage 3 Numeracy Test
(Second Quarter, SY 2019-2020)

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 METHODOLOGY

Source of Data
Hermeneutic analysis of the students’ solutions
Translated textual interpretations of the errors and misconceptions
shown in the solutions

Data analysis
Quantitative data analysis and Qualitative data
analysis
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 METHODOLOGY
• Preparation and organization of data
1
• Data exploration and coding
2
• Building description and themes
3
• Representing, reporting, interpreting
4 and validating qualitative findings
Creswell, J.W. (2012). Educational Research, Planning, Conducting and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research

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 SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Operations that
Cause Non-
Numeracy

Figure 1. Numeracy test scores of the respondents by operation (n=35)

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 SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Operations that
Cause Non-
Numeracy

Figure 2. Distribution of respondents’ zero scores by operation

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 SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Difficulty Themes on the

Basic Numeracy Skills

Figure 3. Thematic analysis of the participants’ solution

in the Regional Key Stage 3 Numeracy Test
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 SUMMARY OF RESULTS
Basic Facts Identity Property Successive Addition

Difficulty Themes in the

Addition Operation

Successive Addition Regrouping Sums Regrouping Sums

Figure 4. Participants’ solutions showing errors in addition

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 SUMMARY OF RESULTS
Basic Facts Basic Facts Basic Facts

Difficulty Themes in the

Subtraction Operation

Subtraction from 0 Subtraction from 0 Subtraction from 0

Figure 5.1 Participants’ solutions showing errors in basic facts

in subtraction
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 SUMMARY OF RESULTS
Subtraction with Regrouping

Difficulty Themes in the

Subtraction Operation Inability
to apply
re-
grouping
skills

Figure 5.2 Participants’ solutions showing inability

to regroup minuends
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 SUMMARY OF RESULTS
Subtraction with Regrouping

Difficulty Themes in the

Subtraction Operation
Misconceptions
in Regrouping

Figure 5.3 Participants’ solutions showing

misconceptions in regrouping minuends
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 SUMMARY OF RESULTS
Basic Facts Basic Facts Basic Facts

Multiplication Operation
Difficulty Themes in the

Zero Property Zero Property

Figure 6.1 Participants’ solutions showing errors in basic

facts in multiplication
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 SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Multiplication Operation
Difficulty Themes in the

Figure 6.2 Participants’ solutions showing errors in

multiplication by two or more digits
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 SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Overlapping Difficulty
Themes

Figure 7. Common Difficulty Themes among

the Three Operations
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 CONCLUSION

The non-numeracy of grade 8 students is

mainly caused by their difficulty in the
multiplication and division operations

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 CONCLUSION

There are five overlapping themes that could be strengthened

to address the difficulty of the students in the basic numeracy
skills:
(1) basic facts in the fundamental operations,
(2) operation by 0,
(3) regrouping,
(4) successive addition, and
(5) multiplication by two or more-digit numbers.

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 RECOMMENDATION

Include the following difficulty themes in designing a School

Numeracy Enhancement Program for Grade 8 students:

• Basic addition facts, identity property of addition, successive

addition, and regrouping sums
• Basic subtraction facts, subtraction from 0, and subtraction
with regrouping of minuends with emphasis on the concept
of place value of numbers
• Basic multiplication facts, zero property of multiplication, and
multiplication by two or more digits.
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 WORK CITED

Ayade, M., Dela Calzada, R., Sabanal, J. & Saballa, M. (2019). Early
Language Literacy and Numeracy Implementation. SMCC
Teacher Education Journal ISSN Print: 2008- 0598 • ISSN
Online: 2008-0601 Volume 1 • June 2019
https://sherj.smccnasipit.edu.ph/articles/education1/Ayade.pdf
Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social Science Research: Principles,
Methods, and Practices, 2nd Edition. Global Text Project.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/
Creswell, J.W. (2012). Educational Research, Planning, Conducting
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. 4 th
Edition. https://www.pearson.com

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 WORK CITED

Deane, P. (2018). A Guide for Interdisciplinary Researchers: Adding

Axiology Alongside Ontology and Epistemology.
https://i2insights.org/2018/05/22/axiology-and-interdisciplinarity/
International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement
(IEA). 2020. New TIMSS results show East Asian students continue to
lead the way in mathematics. News Release. December 8, 2020.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/554598
Moon, K., & Blackman, D. (2014). A Guide to Understanding Social Science
Research for Natural Scientists.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12326/full

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 WORK CITED

Roselizawati, H., Sarwadi, H. & Shahrill, M. (2014). Understanding Students' Mathematical Errors
and Misconceptions: The Case of Year 11 Repeating Students. Mathematics Education
Trends and Research. 9 f 10. International Scientific Publications and Consulting Services.
Creative Commons. ttp://www.ispacs.com/journals/metr/2014/metr-00051/
Silao, I. (2018). Factors Affecting the Mathematics Problem Solving Skills of Filipino Pupils. A
Study Conducted in Kiamba Central School SPED Center, Kiamba, Sarangani.
International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 8, Issue 2, February
2018. http://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-0218/ijsrp-p7461.pdf
Villanueva, A. (2015). Numeracy Level Test Results’ as Predictor of Students’ Performance in
Mathematics in Lucena City National High School – Mayao Parada Extension: Basis for
remediation program. https://www.academia.edu/17990683/ NUMERACY_LEVEL_TEST
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