Difficulties encountered by mathematical literacy grade 11 learners when solving problems on the surface areas of rectangular prisms

M.Ed.Abstract: Since the dawn of democracy in 1994, the South African National Department of Education made several policy and curriculum changes to address the poor performance in Mathematics especially in Township schools and Government-run Institutions. Despite all efforts to introduce Mathematical Literacy for those learners who are weak in the FET Band (grade 10-12) Mathematics, many learners still demonstrate a lack of conceptual and procedural knowledge when solving Mathematical Literacy problems on measurements. Hence, the study is aimed at investigating the difficulties encountered by Grade 11 Mathematical Literacy learners when solving problems on surface areas of rectangular prisms. The majority of schools in the Townships, peri-urban, and Rural areas are attended by learners from low socio-economic groups due to low income of the parents. The country is faced with a chronic shortage of qualified Mathematics teachers and as a result, most schools resort to using unqualified or under-qualified Mathematics teachers. The research undertaken is a descriptive phenomenological case study involving 30 Grade 11 learners at a peri-urban school South of Johannesburg. Learners are transported to and from school by buses and are also given two hot meals per day as in most cases it is the only meal they will have for the day. The study used the qualitative method to collect and analyze data. An in-depth semi-structured focus interviews, as well as documents content analysis were conducted. The study found that learners struggle with measurements in general and to calculate the surface areas of rectangular prisms in particular. They encounter difficulties when solving problems in this strand of Mathematics which results in learners committing errors and misconceptions due to a lack of both the conceptual and procedural knowledge. This problem emanates from “gaps” in their mathematical knowledge brought about by none-congruency between intended and the implemented mathematics curriculum. Effective teaching and intervention strategies are required starting from lower grades to grade 12 in order to reduce difficulties encountered by learners in Mathematics in higher classes. Teachers need to reflect on their daily teaching with the aim to discover the root source of learners’ errors and misconceptions with a view to..