INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GEOBOARD MANIPULATIVES ON JSS 1 STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN PLANE GEOMETRY. A STUDY OF KATSINA METROPOLIS

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of geoboard manipulatives on Katsina State Junior Secondary school students’ academic performance in plane geometry. One secondary school was purposefully chosen from Katsina Metropolis, and a sample of 30 students was chosen from the school using simple random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was pretest posttest Geometry Achievement Test (GAT), the test was constructed by the researcher, the instrument was validated by two mathematics experts and the reliability of the instrument was ascertained by using test and retest method. The research was guided by three objectives, three research questions and three hypotheses. The research questions were answered using the mean and the hypotheses were tested using t statistic at level of significant. The analysis was done using SPSS version 23. Findings from the research established the effectiveness of the use of geoboard in teaching plane geometry in junior secondary school, because there was a significant difference in the mean of the experimental and control groups, which was 56.87 and 45.00 respectively. Hence the conclusion that teachers at the junior secondary school level should always make use of geometric manipulatives when teaching geometry. The paper also recommended that mathematics curriculum for junior secondary school should stress the use of manipulatives, teachers of mathematics in secondary school should be encouraged to use manipulatives and also learn to improvise whenever the materials are not available., seminars and workshops should be organized for mathematics teachers on the use and production of mathematics manipulatives and government should make funds available for the purchase of materials to produce manipulatives in secondary schools.