EFFECT OF MATHEMATICS GAME-BASED INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUES ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENTS AND INTEREST IN ALGEBRA AT BASIC EDUCATION LEVEL

ABSTRACT

The study investigated  the effect of Game-Based  instructional technique on achievement and interest  of  students  in  Algebra  at  the  basic  educational  level.  A  quasi-experimental,  non- equivalent control group design used in carrying out the research; the researcher used all the JSS ll students in Obio-Akpor local Government Area of Rivers State as the population of the study. One hundred and thirty-four students from four schools (male and female) sampled, were used as sample for the study. Intact classes were assigned by hat and draw to either experimental or control group: and separately taught by their regular mathematics teachers who had earlier been trained for the purpose.   All the groups were pre and post tested. Algebra Achievement Test (AAT)  containing  twenty multiple  choice  test and  an  Algebra  Interest  Inventory  containing twenty items were used as instruments for both the control and the experimental groups. Four research questions and six hypotheses guided the study. The mean and standard deviation were used in answering the research questions while Analysis of Covariance [ANCOVA) was used in testing the hypotheses at p<0.05 level of significance. The result showed that the use of Game- based instructional technique in teaching affects students’ achievement and interest in Algebra. Also there was no significant interaction effect between the teaching method  and gender on students’  achievement  and  interest  in  Algebra.  The  study recommended  above  among  other things the incorporation of Game –Based teaching in mathematics classes and textbooks, organization of workshops and seminars for teachers and others concerned on the use of Games in teaching and learning of mathematics especially in Algebra.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Mathematics occupies a central place in the Nigerian educational system. According to Maduabum and Odili (2006), mathematics is a science of quantity and space and occupies a key position in Nigeria’s education system. Mathematics can also be seen as a human invention, born out of human search to solve human problems, (Kolawola and Oluwatayo, 2005). Mathematics has many branches like set, logarithm, trigonometry,  geometry, statistics, vector and algebra. According to Brian (2010), algebra is the branch of mathematics which is concern with structure, relation and quantity. Studying mathematics as well as algebraic concepts, variables processes and equations have many advantages.

Mathematics without doubt remains very important to all disciplines and fields of human work and study (Odili, 2006). It has continued to play significant role in the development of both the  individuals  and  nations.  Mathematics  is  a necessary  tool needed  to  be  able  to  function effectively in the present technological age (Aremu, 1998). Even the ordinary man in the street will agree to this fact that mathematics is of great importance to man existence. According to Abakpa and Iji(2011), Mathematics  is an intellectually stimulating subject that affects every talent of human activities such as politics, economics science and technology. The importance of mathematics to nation building cannot be over emphasized; this led the Federal Government of Nigeria (FRN, 2004) to make mathematics a core subject to be offered by students at some levels of education in Nigeria. Mathematics education is the bedrock of scientific and technological development in any country. (Okafor, 2002) also noted that mathematics is a compulsory entry requirement into some courses in university education. One is expected to credit mathematics to

qualify one to study at the higher education level. Despite the considerable relevance of mathematics to human existence and despite the enviable position it occupies in the community of disciplines, students achievements in the public examination have continued to worsen year by year (Kolawole and Ilugbusi, 2007).

Poor achievement of students in Nigerian secondary school has assumed alarming proportion and caused a lot of concern for many years (Aburime, 2009). Students are seen to perform poorly in both internal and external examinations (Ale 2005). For instance, in 1996 over, 52.9% of Nigerian students failed Mathematics in Senior Secondary School Examination (WAEC1996). Also in Nigeria, in the years 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 the percentage  of pass at credit and above were 23.0%, 31.0%, 24.94% and 38.98% respectively ( Kurumeh & Imoko

2008; Moseri & Smart 2010; Iyi 2011). Adeleke (2007) observed that one particular area of mathematics  which  students’ problem dominant  is  algebra.  In  the same  line  (Martin, 2000) observed that algebra is also one of the branches of mathematics that many secondary school students  find  difficult  to  understand.    Perhaps  this  is  so  because  historically,  algebra  has represented students first sustained exposure to the abstraction and symbolism that makes mathematics powerful (Kieran, 1992).     Kurummeh and Achor opines several variables to responsible for the poor performance of students  in mathematics,  these  includes  methods  to which the content is being presented to the students, lack of interest among the students and abstractness of mathematical concepts among others.

Interest is an important variable in learning because when one is interested in an activity, one is likely to perform positively. Interest is a subjective feeling of concentration or persisting tendency to pay attention and enjoy some activity or content (Imoko & Agwagah, 2006). Though some children may be intellectually and physically capable of learning, they may never learn

until their interest is stimulated. Once the students are stimulated, they will continue to learn as long as the teacher is capable of sustaining their interest in the subject matter. This is because interest brings about attention, once there is direct interest, attention is guaranteed and learning is assured. Also, interest can be expressed through simple statements made by individuals of their likes and dislikes and one is likely to do well in a discipline of interest. The low interest in mathematics emanates from anxiety and fear. Phobia has been observed by Aprebo in Okigbo (2010) to be an academic sickness whose virus has not yet been fully diagnosed for an effective treatment in the class and the symptoms of this phobia are usually expressed on the faces of mathematics students in their classes. The WAEC Chief Examiner’s Report (2009) suggested that   teachers   should   help   students   improve   their  achievement   and   develop   interest   in mathematics by reducing the abstractness of mathematics, and remove their apathy and fears of the subject. In the same vein the gender difference in interest and achievement of students in mathematics has been a thing of worry to mathematics educators and researchers.

Gender  is  the  stratification  and  assignment  of  roles  along  sex  line  which  may  be culturally determined, which is ascribed to male and female, (Udaya, 2010). Gender disparity in mathematics performance is one that cannot be swept under the carpet. Morden psychology studies have shown  that gender as a variable relates to performance  (Ezeugo  and Agwagah,

2000). Although most researchers have found boys performing better than girls (Adeleke, 2000) especially on higher order knowledge, a few others saw girls out-performing boys while some others established no significant difference particularly during early education. A review of some gender based studies that were carried out showed that there is a considerable inconsistency in the literature as to the nature, extent and sources of bias in the differential performances between boys and girls in mathematics, (Obafem, 2007). In light of the above, if any method is suspected

to increase performance  and interest in mathematics, its effect on gender should be put into consideration.

Nigeria  as  a developing  country  needs  innovation  in  teaching  and  learning process. Unfortunately, the teaching and learning of Mathematics at all levels of the educational system in Nigeria can be described to be in a dismal state (Amazigo, 2000). Many variables have been implicated  as  responsible  for  the  low  performance  of  students.  Amazigo,  (2000)  identified specific variables, such as poor primary school background in mathematics, lack of interest on the  part  of students,  incompetent  teachers  in  the  schools,  large  classes,  fear  of the  subject psychologically,  etc.  Supporting  the  above,  (Ale  and  Adetula,  2005)  reported  that  research reports have offered several reasons for the students’ poor performance in mathematics. The reasons include; Lack of qualified mathematics teachers, Student’s lack of interest and as well as negative  attitude towards mathematics, Teachers own negative  attitude  and  incompetence  in certain mathematics concepts and Poor methods of the teaching applied by the teacher in the classroom. (Agwagah, 2001) was of the opinion that teachers’ non-use of relevant instructional materials in the teaching of mathematics concepts also contribute to the poor performance of students in the subject. The National Mathematical Centre, in an attempt to revamp Mathematics teaching and learning at Secondary Schools, has successfully researched  into the causes and remedies for the abysmal failure in WAEC, SSCE and JAMB Mathematics examinations. The body discovered that poor performance in the public examinations in Mathematics has more to do with the teachers’ method of teaching than the nature of the content of curricular of the school Mathematics  (National  Mathematical  Centre,  2009).  This  may be because  the  most science teachers’ method of teaching is characterized by the conventional method of teaching which involves one directional flow of information from the teacher to the students Iloputaife, (1996).

The above necessitated and spurred the Center’s Mathematics Improvement Programme (MIP) project  to  introduce  a  new  teaching  methodology  to  enhance  students’  performance  in Mathematics. The game-based instructional technique is one of the new methods that are being used in the teaching and learning process.

Games  have  been  defined  by  many  authors  in  various  ways.  According  to  Ayotola (2003), game is explained as a contest in which people agree to abide by a set of rules in an attempt to win an objective. Games are social activities with sets of rules in which the hallmark is to win (Ezeamaenyi, 2004). Games can be defined in this study as interactive activity by which the participants contest based on accepted rules. The value of games in teaching and learning cannot be over emphasized. That is why Ayotola, (2003) and Eze, (2006) stressed that games motivate, develop skills, abilities and strategies. Hence the Algebraic Substitution Attack Game, Algebra Snadder Joint Game and Number Line Game were adapted in this study.

From the above discussed, it is clear that the performance and interest of students in mathematics  is highly dependent upon  the teaching  and  learning  method  (Nakpodia,  2012). Studies have also revealed that games can be used in the teaching and learning process. Despite all these significant result recorded in other areas of mathematics and other subjects, it becomes obvious that none has been done on the effect of games based instructional technique on algebra at the basic educational level. It is on these bases that the researcher tends to find out if the use of game based instructional technique will enhance secondary school achievements and interest in algebra at the basic educational level.

Statement of Problem

The poor performances of students in mathematics in our schools have been a thing of concern to teachers, educational administrators, curriculum planners and the society as a whole. This concern about poor performance in mathematics has led to several suggestions for improvement. Unfortunately these suggestions revolve around the inappropriate teaching method as a major cause of students’ poor performance in mathematics. Hence mathematics researchers are in search of innovative teaching methods and strategies that will enhance achievement and interest  in  mathematics.  Although  sxome  researchers  have  advocated  the  use  of innovative strategies such as game based technique in teaching sciences and science related subjects (mathematics), no studies to the best of the researchers knowledge has investigated the effect of game-based instructional technique  in teaching the basic educational level class mathematics content (algebra). Based on the foregoing, the major issue of academic concern for this study posed  as  a  question  is;  what  is  the  effect  of  game-based  instructional  technique  on  basic educational level students’ achievement and interest in algebra.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to investigate  the effects of using game-based  instructional technique in teaching JSS students in algebra (mathematics). Specifically, the study sought the following;

      To  investigate  the  extent  to  which  the  use  of  game-based  instructional  technique (Algebraic Substitution Attack Game, Algebra Snadder Joint Game, and Number Line Game) will enhance the achievement of mathematics students.

      To compare the achievement of male and female students in mathematics when taught using these game-based instructional technique

       To determine the mean interest score of students taught using game-based instructional technique and those taught using the conventional method.

      To determine the mean interest score of male and female students in the experimental group.

Significance of the Study

The result of the study will provide information on how Nigeria students may perform when taught using game-base technique thereby laying credence to the effectiveness  and tenets  of experiential  leaning  theory of David  A. Kolb  and  Vygotsky’s  activity  leaning theory. The findings would help to strengthen the implications of these theories in teaching and learning of mathematics in secondary schools.

Practically, the result of this study therefore can be of benefit to the following: students, teachers of mathematics, educational administrators and higher institutions.

The result of this study may be of immense benefit to students as it would make them see algebra as a simplified subject. It will also be a means of fostering creativity and cooperativeness between students and teachers.

The result of this study may also be of immense benefit to the teachers of mathematics because it will supply information that will enable them in making the right choice of teaching method when teaching algebra.

Again,  to  the  educational  administrators  the  findings  of  this  study  can  provide information  with  which they can organize conferences,  workshop  and  training programs  for teachers so as to communicate to teachers the alternative models to the teaching of mathematics for maximum comprehension.

Finally, the result from this study can also provide more information for teachers training in  tertiary  institutions  such  as colleges of education  and  faculties  of education  of Nigerian universities.

Scope of Study

The study was carried out with JSS 2 students in Obio-Akpor local government are in Rivers State of Nigeria. The content scope includes equations by the balance method, equations with  brackets  and  equations  with  fractions.  The  game-base  technique  and  the  conventional method will be used to investigate whether they have any effect on students’ achievement ant interest in algebra.

Research Questions

The following research questions guided this study.

1.   What is the mean achievement scores of students taught algebra using the game-based (Algebraic Substitution  Attack Game, Algebra Snadder Joint Game and Number Line Game) instructional technique and those taught with conventional approach

2.   What are the mean achievement scores of male and female students taught algebra using the game-based (Algebraic Substitution Attack Game, Algebra Snadder Joint Game and Number Line Game) instructional technique.

3.   What is the mean interest scores of students taught algebra using game-based (Algebraic Substitution Attack Game, Algebra Snadder Joint Game and Number Line Game) instructional technique and those taught with conventional approach?

4.   What are the mean interest scores of male and female students taught using game-based (Algebraic Substitution  Attack Game, Algebra Snadder Joint Game and Number Line Game) instructional technique?

Hypothesis

The following hypothesis were formed to guide the study and were tested at 0.05 level of significance.

HO1:   There is no significant difference among the mean achievement scores of students taught Algebra (mathematics) using game-based (Algebraic Substitution Attack Game, Algebra Snadder Joint Game and Number Line Game) instructional technique and those taught without the method, as measured by the Algebra Achievement Test (AAT)

HO2: There is no significant difference between mean achievement scores of male and female students taught Algebra (mathematics) using game-based (Algebraic Substitution Attack Game, Algebra Snadder Joint Game and Number Line Game) instructional technique, as measured by the Algebra Achievement Test (AAT)

HO3:  There  is  no  significant  difference  in  the  mean  interest  scores  of  the  students exposed  to  the  game-based  (Algebraic  Substitution  Attack  Game,  Algebra Snadder  Joint  Game  and  Number  Line  Game)  instructional  –technique  and control group, as measured by the Algebra Interest Inventory (AII)

HO4:    There is no significant difference in mean interest scores of male and female students  exposed  to  the  game-based  (Algebraic  Substitution  Attack  Game, Algebra Snadder Joint Game and Number Line Game)   instructional–technique, as measured by the Algebra Interest Inventory (AII)

HO5:    There is no interaction effect of gender and method on achievement of students as measured by the Algebra Achievement Test (AAT)

HO6: There is no significant interaction effect between method and gender on students’ interest in algebra, as measured by the Student Algebra Interest Inventory (AII)

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