Academic literature on the topic 'Geometry, Plane – Study and teaching (Secondary) – Nigeria'

This study is an exploration of the effectiveness of Design-Based Learning (DBL) model in the improvement of senior secondary students’ achievement in solid geometry in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State. The quasi-experimental design was adopted. A sample of 59 Senior Secondary School I (SSSI) students took part in the study. Solid Geometry Achievement Test (SGAT) was the instrument used for data collection. The Kuder-Richardson KR-21 method was used to establish the reliability of SGAT to obtain an index of 0.84. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at .05 level of significance. The findings established that DBL model was superior to Problem-based Learning (PbL) model in advancing the learning achievement of students in solid geometry. The students of both groups improved in learning over time with higher learning gain among students in the experimental group. The male and the female students in the experimental group outperformed their counterparts in the control group over SGAT scores. The male and the female students taught using the DBL and PbL respectively did not significantly differ over SGAT scores. It was recommended among others that mathematics teacher should apply the DBL in teaching solid geometry in the senior secondary schools in Nigeria because when effectively utilized, this instructional model is capable of advancing the learning achievement of students in mathematics irrespective of their locations and gender

In this study, the effectiveness of Inductive Inquiry and Transmitter of Knowledge models on students’ academic achievement on Circle Geometry and Trigonometry is explored. The main objectives of the study are to expose the groups to Inductive Inquiry and Transmitter of Knowledge models and compare the effectiveness of these modes of teaching in the teaching of circle geometry and trigonometry. The pre-test-post-test experimental design is chosen for this work. It is hypothesized that there would be significant difference between mean achievement scores of these experimental groups on the post-test. The population of the study consisted of all the students of senior secondary two (SS2) class studying in Govt. Sec. School, Bwari, Federal Capital Territory( FCT) Abuja, Nigeria from which a sample of 60 students is drawn using random sampling technique. They were divided into two groups formed through matching on the basis of their pre-test scores; each group consisting of 30 students. One of the groups is randomly chosen as the Inductive Inquiry group and the other as Transmitter of Knowledge group. The independent variable is mode of teaching and the dependent variable is the academic achievement of students. The dependent variable is measured through a 50-item achievement test items generated using the West African Examination Council’s (WAEC) past questions. These questions are used as both pre-test and post-test items. It is found that Inductive Inquiry group performed better than the Transmitter of Knowledge group. This result may be investigated for further confirmation. It is recommended that Inductive Inquiry model be used by teachers of mathematics while teaching the subject to senior secondary classes. A blend of models may be used because there is no single model that is exclusively best for teaching all the topics at all levels to all students, considering individual differences among students.

The aim of this paper was to determine the influence of using models as instructional materials on student’s performance in mathematics in Hong Local Government Area, Adamawa State. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the effect of using models on students academic achievement in mathematics and to determine the influence of gender difference when taught with models. The research employed experimental study design on a targeted population of all Junior Secondary Students in Hong Local Government Area. A sample of 240 students both male and female participated in the study. Out of the four randomly selected schools, two were assigned experimental group and the remaining two, control group. Data were obtained through testing the groups at the end of the treatment and was analysed using the appropriate statistics at 0.05 level of significant. From the presentation and data analysed, findings revealed that teaching mathematics with models as instructional materials improved students performance. The result further, revealed gender difference in favour of boys than girls. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that, schools should provide best designed Models in support of the teacher’s improvisational ones, with simple and durable materials that will facilitate instruction.

This study investigated the applicability of a class of instructional models based on constructivism in improving the achievement of senior secondary students in solid geometry using the quasi-experimental design. Two constructivist-based instructional models used were Teaching for Understanding (TfU) and Metacognitive Instructional (MCI) models. The exploration area was the Emohua Local Government Area (LGA) of Rivers State, Nigeria. An aggregate of 86 Senior Secondary Class I (SSC1) students took an interest in the investigation. To evaluate the achievement of the students in solid geometry, the researchers structured, approved and utilised an achievement test in solid geometry which contained 50 multiple-choice questions. The reliability of the test was determined using KR-21 to get an index of 0.84. This research work was guided by two research questions and two null hypotheses separately. The mean, standard deviation, box-plots and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were used for data analysis. The findings showed that the class of instructional models based on constructivism significantly enhanced the learning of solid geometry amongst the SSC1 students. The MCI model was less effective than the TfU model in improving the learning of the students. Sex had no significant influence on the solid geometry achievement of SSC1 students irrespective of the instructional model used. The exploration suggested among others that solid geometry ought to be instructed by the educators of arithmetic using the instructional models based on constructivism.

This study is inspired by and utilises the van Hiele theory of geometric thought levels, currently acclaimed as one of the best frameworks for studying teaching and learning processes in geometry. The study aims both to explore and explicate the van Hiele levels of geometric thinking of a selected group of grade 10, 11 and 12 learners in Nigerian and South African schools. The study further aims to provide a rich and indepth description of the geometry instructional practices that possibly contributed to the levels of geometric conceptualisation exhibited by this cohort of high school learners. This collective case study, presented in two volumes, is oriented within an interpretive research paradigm and characterised by both qualitative and quantitative methods. The sample for the study comprised a total of 144 mathematics learners and 6 mathematics teachers from Nigeria and South Africa. They were selected using both purposive and stratified sampling techniques. In using the van Hiele model to interrogate both learners’ levels of geometric conceptualisation and teaching methods in geometry classrooms, the study employs a qualitative and qunatitative approach to the data-collection process, involving the use of questionnaires (in the form of various pen-and-paper tests, hands-on activity-based tests), interviews and classroom videos. Although the data analysis was done largely through descriptive statistics, the whole process inevitably incorporated elements of inferential statistics (e.g. ANOVA and Tukey HSD post-hoc test) in the quest for indepth analysis and deeper interpretation of the data. Learners were assigned to various van Hiele levels, mainly according to Usiskin’s (1982) forced van Hiele level determination scheme. The whole process of analysing the classroom videos involved a consultative panel of 4 observers and 3 critical readers, using the checklist of van Hiele phase descriptors to guide the analysis process. Concerning learners’ levels of geometric conceptualisation, the results from this study reveal that the most of the learners were not yet ready for the formal deductive study of school geometry, as only 2% and 3% of them were respectively at van Hiele levels 3 and 4, while 47%, 22% and 24% were at levels 0, 1 and 2, respectively. More learners from the Nigerian subsample (53%) were at van Hiele level 0 than learners from the South African subsample (41%) at this level. No learner from the Nigerian subsample was at van Hiele level 4, while 6% of the South African learners were at level 4. In general, learners from the Nigerian subsample had a poorer knowledge of school geometry than their peers from the South African subsample, as learners from the latter subsample obtained significantly higher mean scores in the van Hiele Geometry Test (VHGT) and each of the other tests used in this study. Results relating to gender differences in performance generally favour the male learners in this study. For each of the participating schools, learners’ van Hiele levels (as determined by their scores on the VHGT) strongly correlate with their performance in geometry content tests and mathematics generally. For each of the Nigerian and South African subsamples, for n ≤ 2, learners at van Hiele level n obtained higher means on nearly all the tests administered in this study than their peers at level n–1. This finding provides support for the hierarchical property of the van Hiele levels.