Improving Problem Solving Skills in Calculus among the Grade 12 Learners’ in Selected Public Secondary Schools in Lusaka District, Zambia

The study sought to establish problem solving strategies that can improve problem solving skills in Calculus among the Grade 12 Learners’ in Selected Secondary Schools in Zambia. The study employed a qualitative study approach, which followed a case study design. Hundred teachers (n=100) and two-hundred and fifty (n=250) Grade 12 learners from ten (n=10) public secondary schools making a total sample size of three-hundred and fifty (n=350) of Lusaka province, Zambia, participated. The sampling techniques employed were purposive sampling and simple random sampling. Data was collected using semi-structured interview schedule. Interviews are said to be the best way to collect data because it helps the researcher to have feelings, opinions, gestures, tone of voice, reactions, attitudes, views, and are useful in gathering in-depth data. Audio recordings were used to capture interviews, respectively, in their totality. The collected data was analyzed using qualitative techniques. Qualitative data was organized into themes and analyzed using narratives and direct quotations of the respondents’ views, experiences and information. The study established that having pre-requisite knowledge in appropriate mathematics topics like Indices, Functions, Coordinate Geometry, Algebra (fractions, factorisation of quadratic expressions and equations), understanding the language of Calculus questions, understanding the development of Calculus formulas, and introducing Calculus symbols in early grades can improve Grade 12 learner’s problem solving skills in Calculus. The study therefore, recommended that applications of basic concepts in earlier grades should be consolidated and revised on an on-going basis. Teachers should focus on the development of the formulas and introducing calculus symbols in early grades. The study further recommended that teachers should also be carrying out a diagnostic assessment to determine what learners know about pre-calculus topics such as Indices, Factorization, and Algebraic Fractions before learners are taught Calculus.