EFFECT OF SPATIAL WORLD AND MATHEMATIZING SPACE ON INTEREST AND ACHIEVEMENT IN GEOMETRY AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
This purpose of the study is to examine the effects of spatial world and mathematizing space on interest and achievement in geometry among senior secondary school students in Plateau State. Four research questions and six hypotheses guided the study. The quasi-experimental design (non-equivalent control group design) was used for the study, which was carried out in Bokkos, Mangu and Pankshin areas office within Central Zone Area Inspectorate Office of Education in Pankshin, Plateau State. The target population of the study was all the senior secondary two students from 143 government approved schools comprised of a total of 22,035 students. Six schools were purposefully selected from the zone. The sample for the study was 446 students composed of 191 males and 255 females using purposive sampling techniques. The instruments for data collection were Achievement test and Interest Inventory in Geometry. Two lesson plans were developed for the study, one for spatial world and mathematizing space instruction and the other for traditional method of teaching. The instruments and lesson plans were validated by five experts three in mathematics education and two from measurement and evaluation. The analysis revealed that students that were taught geometry using spatial world and mathematizing space have more mean interest score 75.24 ± 11.33 and a higher mean achievement score of 66.02 ± 10.55 than their counterparts taught same geometry using the traditional method with a mean interest score of 70.35± 15.08 and mean achievement score of 56.54 ± 19.35 . There was no significant difference in the mean interest scores and mean achievement scores of students taught geometry using spatial world and mathematizing space. There was no significant difference in the mean interest scores of male and female students taught geometry using spatial world and mathematizing space. However there was a significant difference in the mean achievement scores of students taught geometry using spatial world and mathematizing space. There was significant interaction effect of spatial world and mathematizing space on the mean interest scores of students in geometry, but no significant interaction effect of spatial world and mathematizing space on gender in the mean achievement scores of students in geometry. Since the use of spatial world and mathematizing space generates more interest and achievement scores than the traditional method of teaching geometry, the study therefore recommends among other things that mathematics teachers should use it as one of the strategies in teaching geometry.