PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ MASTERY OF NUMBER BASE SYSTEM IN UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION (UBE) MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM
ABSTRACT
The study sought to determine the extent of primary school teachers’ mastery of number base system in Universal Basic Education (UBE) mathematics curriculum. The study also sought to find out the percentage of primary school teachers that have mastery on application of binary number to computer. The mastery of number base system by male and female experienced and less experienced and urban and rural were also considered. Five research question and three null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A descriptive survey design was used for the study. The population of the study was made up of primary five and six teachers in urban and rural schools in Idah Education Zone. The sample was made up of 40 primary five and six teachers. Multi-stage sampling technique was used. The simple random sampling technique was used to select 20 schools from 57 schools in Idah Education Zone and purposive sample technique was used to select one male teacher and one female teacher from each school in 10 urban schools and one male teacher and one female teacher from each school in 10 rural schools. The instrument used for this study was Teachers Mastery Test on Number Base System (TMTNBS). This was developed, validated and used for data collection. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions and t-test statistic tool was used to test the hypotheses. The study revealed that the mean scores of the primary school teachers that have adequate mastery both of number base system in UBE mathematics curriculum and application of binary number to computer are greater than those that do not have. It also revealed that some teachers scored below 80% which is the expected minimum score that indicates mastery. The result of the study also revealed that there is significant difference between the mean mastery scores of experienced and less experienced teachers, male and female teachers and teachers in urban and rural schools. Based on the findings, some recommendations were made; these include frequent seminars, workshops and conferences should be organized for primary school teachers to enhance meaningful teaching and learning of mathematics.