Teaching Multiplication of Large Positive Whole Numbers Using Grating Method in Junior Secondary Schools in Obio Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State

Abstract

This study investigated the teaching of multiplication of large positive whole numbers using the grating method and the effect of this method on students’ performance in junior secondary schools. The study was conducted in Obio Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers state. It was quasi- experimental. Two research questions and one hypothesis guided the study. The sample consisted of eighty (80) Junior Secondary two (JS2) students from two (2) schools. Forty JS2 students (experimental group) were taught multiplication of large positive whole numbers using the grating method and another forty (control group) were taught the same concept using the conventional long multiplication method. The instrument used for data collection was a researcher made ‘2-item-show-working’ achievement test tagged multiplication of Large Positive Whole Numbers (MLPWN). This MLPWN was used to pre-test and post test the two groups. The MLPWN was validated and a test retest was carried out using the pearson product moment correlation to obtain a reliability coefficient of 0.75.The descriptive statistics was used to analyse the research questions while the t-statistic was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 significant level. The result showed that the students taught multiplication of large positive whole numbers with the grating method performed better than those taught with the conventional long multiplication method. The paper recommended that secondary school mathematics teachers should integrate history of mathematics during mathematics instruction and also the curriculum designers should give history of mathematics its rightful place in Nigerian mathematics curriculum.