EFFICACY OF LABORATORY INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY ON STUDENTS’ GEOMETRY PERFORMANCE, RETENTION AND ATTITUDE AMONG JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

(A CASE STUDY OF KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA)

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Author

Presented To

Department of Education

ABSTRACT
This study set out to investigate laboratory instructional strategy on geometry performanceretention and attitude in some selected secondary schools in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. A sample of N=290 students were drawn from 5,483 randomly selected from the secondary schools in Zaria Educational Zone. The subjects were divided into two groups, the experimental group N=150 and the control group N=140. The study adopted the pretest, posttest experimental and control group design. A pretest was administered before the treatment to establish group equivalence in ability. The subjects in the experimental group were then exposed to the treatment using mathematics laboratory instructional strategy, while the control group was exposed to the conventional method for a period of six weeks. Two instruments were developed and validated for data collection. They are (i) geometry Achievement Test (GAT), and (ii) Attitude Towards Geometry Inventory (ATGI)five null hypotheses were tested. The data collected were subjected to statistical analysis. The t-test for independent sample statistic was used to test for the hypotheses on performance.. Mann-Whitney u-test tool of least significant difference was used to test the attitude of the subjects to the laboratory instructional strategy. The major findings from the study were that; (i) students exposed to laboratory instructional strategy achieved,retained the learnt concept and developed more positive attitude to geometry than their counterpart exposed to conventional method of teaching (ii) The laboratory instructional strategy was suitable for both male and female students in teaching and learning of mathematics. On the basis of these findings recommendation were made some of these are as follows: mathematics teachers should be encouraged to use mathematics laboratory instructional strategy by providing all thematerials needed for effective implementation. Students’ attitude towards mathematics should be positively changed by involving them to participate actively in the learning process.