EFFECT OF CLASS SIZE ON TEACHING AND LEARNING OF MATHEMATICS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL IN BOSSO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, NIGER STATE

Abstract

This research work is based on the Effect of Class Size to the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics in Bosso Local Government Area of Niger State. To this, two research questions and two hypotheses were made. The research design adopted for the study is a quasi-experimental research design. There are two groups i.e. experimental and control group. The experimental group consist of a small class-size of 20–25 students while the control consists of a class-size of 40–60 students. A stratified random sample technique was adopted in choosing two secondary school in the Local Government Area out of about 21 secondary schools in Bosso Local Government Area Niger State. A stratified random sample technique was used because the researcher wishes to divide the students into two groups i.e. the control group and experimental group. The data used in this was obtained through pre and post achievement tests. The scores of the students were used as data collection. The data collected were analyzed using Percentages, Mean, standard deviation and statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The result revealed that there is significant difference between mean achievement scores of the control and experimental group in the pre and post mathematics achievement test. The study revealed the following findings; from Hypothesis one using t-test showed that there is a significant difference in the performance of students taught in a class size of 25-30 students as their performance was better than those taught in a class size of 40-60 students with P=0.003. Hypothesis two showed that there is no significant difference in the performance of males and females students on the effect of class size on teaching and learning of mathematics with P=0.387. In view of the findings, the researcher recommended that for effective teaching and learning of mathematics the teacher should be professionally trained, and that class-size should be reduced to 20-30 students per class and with the teacher having not more than three (3) streams, and that governments should also help secondary schools to establish mathematics laboratories.