Effects of Self-Instructional Learning Strategy on Secondary Schools Students‟ Academic Achievement in Solving Mathematical Word Problems in Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of self-instructional learning strategy on students‟ achievement in solving Mathematical word problems. The research determined whether self-instructional learning strategy has significant effects on the learning achievement of senior secondary school students. Three research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study utilized the non-randomized control group pre-test post-test experimental design. The sample consisted of 131 subjects with mean age of 16.02 years from four schools chosen through simple sampling techniques. Students of the experimental group were instructed in four units of Mathematics syllabus using self-instructional method. On the other hand, the control group was taught the same topics in Mathematics using the conventional teaching method. Mathematics Achievement Test instrument developed and duly validated by experts was used to collect data. Data collected were analysed using mean for the research questions and Two-way Analysis of co-variance was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Major findings of the study indicate that there was significant main effect of treatment (self-instructional learning strategy) on the student‟s mathematical word problem achievement. The effect of gender on mathematical word problem achievement was found insignificant. However, a significant interaction effect was observed between gender and learning strategy. Thus, males in the experimental group significantly performed better than their female counterparts. Based on these findings, educational implications of the study were raised.

Key words: Self-Instructional learning Strategy, Gender, Mathematical Word Problem