Improving Interest and Achievement in Mathematics: A Quasi-Experimental Study of Jigsaw Method among Secondary School Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Improving learners’ academic achievement in core subjects is on the front burner of educational discourse. Researchers have taken to investigations to discover the best teaching–learning strategy to improve learners’ achievement in Mathematics. Hence, the study examined the effect of jigsaw method of instruction on students’ academic achievement and interest in Mathematics in Anambra State. The study utilized a quasi-experimental study design guided by four research questions and four null hypotheses. The sample size for the study comprised 300 SSS1 students (130 males &170 females). Experimental and control groups were randomly assigned (experimental males 70, females 89) while (control males 60 and females 81). The instruments for data collection were the Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) and the Mathematics Interest Scale (MIS) which were face validated by four experts. The reliability indices of the instruments were 0.98 and 0.78 respectively, using Kudar Richardson 20 (KR-20) for MAT and Cronbach Alpha for MIS. Data collected were statistically analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while the null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The findings of the study revealed that the statistical mean effect for method (F (1,299) = 7.742, P=.003) on achievement and statistical mean effect for method (F (1,299) = 7.025, P=.999) on interest were less than 0.05 level of significant for achievement and greater than 0.05 level of significant for interest, hence the null hypotheses was rejected and accepted respectively. Also, the results from the study showed that the significant difference in gender (F (1,158) = 2.034, P= .051), (F (1,158) = 1.018, P= .052) were greater than .05 level of significant, the null hypotheses were upheld indicating that there was no significant difference in the influence of gender on students’ mean achievement and interest scores when taught Mathematics using jigsaw method of instruction. Based on the findings, recommendations were made that the use of interactive jigsaw method should be incorporated into teaching topics in Mathematics in order to enhance students’ understanding in Mathematics learning.