Title: EFFECTS OF JIGSAW COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGY ON STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENT IN SECONDARY SCHOOL MATHEMATICS IN LAIKIPIA EAST DISTRICT, KENYA
Abstract: Knowledge of mathematics as a tool for use in everyday life is important for the existence of any individual and society. It equips students with unique and powerful set of tools to understand the world and become productive members of the society. Secondary school students in Kenya have continued to perform poorly in mathematics at the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (K.C.S.E) national examinations. This raises concern for all stakeholders in education due to the importance they attach to mathematics. Some of the factors that are attributed to the students’ dismal performance in the subject include; inadequate facilities in the schools like the text books and qualified teachers, poor attitude towards the subject by the students and teachers, gender stereotypes, lack of role models for girls, and the ineffective instructional methods used by teachers. This study sought to find out if the use of Jigsaw Cooperative learning Strategy during instruction of Surds and Further logarithm in mathematics to form three 17 year old students had effects on their performance. Surds and Further logarithm are topics that are performed poorly at the KCSE. There is however inadequate documented information in research conducted in Kenya on effects of the use of Jigsaw Cooperative learning Strategy on students’ achievement in mathematics. Solomon four non-equivalent control group research design was used in the study. The two experimental groups received the Jigsaw cooperative learning Strategy as treatment and two control groups were taught using the conventional learning/teaching methods. A simple random sample of four co-education district secondary schools was selected from Laikipia East District. The sample size was 160 students out of a population of about 20,000 students in the district. A mathematics achievement test (MAT) was used for data collection. The instrument was validated and had reliability coefficient of 0.87. Data was analyzed using t and ANOVA tests to test hypothesis at 0.05 significance level. Findings of this study show that learners taught using Jigsaw cooperative learning strategy performed better than those taught using Conventional learning methods. The results also show that there is no significant gender difference in achievement when learners are taught using Jigsaw cooperative learning strategy. Conclusions, implications and recommendations of the study are summarized.
Publication Year: 2013
Publication Date: 2013-04-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 13
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