Effects of Realistic Mathematics Education and Experiential Learning Instructional approaches on Students’ Problem Solving Ability and Academic Achievement in Geometry

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) and Experiential Learning (EL) instructional approaches on students’ problem solving ability and achievement in geometry in Mangu, Plateau State. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The design adopted for the study was quasi-experimental of pretest-posttest nonequivalent group design. The population consisted of one thousand and ninety (1090) senior secondary one (SS1) students of the public secondary schools in Mangu Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State, Nigeria. A sample of 115 participants was randomly selected using a multi-stage sampling procedure. The instrument, Geometry Achievement and Problem Solving Ability Test (GAPSAT) developed by the researcher along with Problem Solving ability score guideline adapted from Trianto (2008) cited in Fuadi, Minarni and Banjarnahor (2017) was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by three experts and the reliability indices of 0.762 and 0.961 were ascertained using Kudder-Richardson 20 (K-R20) and Kendall’s coefficient of concordance respectively. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Specifically, the research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The results revealed that both RME and EL approaches improve students’ achievement and problem solving ability in geometry and that student taught using EL instructional approach had slightly higher mean achievement and mean problem solving ability scores than those taught using RME approach. It was recommended among others that teachers should be encouraged to use the two instructional approaches in teaching Mathematics.