EFFECT OF PEER TUTORING METHOD ON SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN ALGEBRA IN AGUATA EDUCATION ZONE ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

This study investigated into the effect of peer tutoring on senior secondary school student’ academic achievement in Algebra in senior secondary schools in Aguata education zone of Anambra state. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The design of the study was a quasi – experimental research design. Specifically, the design was pre-test post-test non randomized control group design. A sample of 84 SS1 students from a population of 2,684 SSI students from Aguata Education zone were used for the study. The sample size was obtained using multistage sampling technique. The experimental group was taught Algebra using the peer group tutoring method while the control group was taught the same content using the lecture method. The instrument for data collection was Algebra Achievement test which was a 25-item multiple choice question that was validated by two experts in mathematics education and an expert in measurement and evaluation. The reliability co-efficient of the instrument was calculated using Kuder-Richardson formula 20(KR-20) to get 0.89 which indicated that the instrument was reliable. Descriptive statistics of mean was used to answer the research questions while the standard deviation was adopted to ascertain the homogeneity or otherwise of the students’ achievement scores. The t-test statistics was used to test the formulated hypothesis at 0.05 alpha level. The findings of the study revealed among others that the peer tutoring mode of instruction significantly enhanced the achievement of students in Algebra. Male students had higher mean achievement scores than their female counterpart. The t- test analysis revealed that the difference in the mean achievement scores and of male and female students exposed to peer tutoring method of teaching was significant. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that mathematics teachers should adopt peer tutoring in teaching of Algebra to enhance the performance of students in Algebra.