Effect of peer tutoring strategy on mathematics achievement of secondary school students with different ability level in Oji-river local government area, Enugu state

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of peer tutoring strategy (PTS) on Mathematics achievement of secondary school students with different ability level in Oji-River local government area of Enugu state. Three research questions guided the study and three null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The quasi-experimental pretest posttest non-randomized control group design was adopted for the study. A sample of 88 senior secondary two (SS2) students of mathematics chosen from a population of 1,118 students in Oji-River LGA using random and purposive sampling were involved in the study. The instruments for data collection was Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) validated by three experts. The reliability of the instrument was established using Kuder-Richardson Formula-20 to be 0.83.The experiment took place in two phases. The first phase involved a one-week training session for the research assistants, who are the regular SS2 Mathematics teachers in both the experimental and control group schools. This training consisted of three sessions, with details provided in the briefing manual.The second phase focused on the implementation of the treatment. Students in the experimental group received instruction using the Peer Tutoring Strategy (PTS), while those in the control group was taught through the lecture method. Before the treatment begins, all students took Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) as a pretest. Scores obtained from the achievement pretests was recorded for both groups. The data obtained were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and Analysis of Covariance. The findings revealed among others that there is a significant difference between the mean achievement scores of secondary school students taught Mathematics using PTS and those taught using lecture method in favour of PTS, ability level had no significant influence on students’ achievement in Mathematics. The study concludes that peer tutoring strategy significantly enhances secondary school students’ achievement in Mathematics irrespective of students ability level. It was recommended among others that, schools should provide professional development programs to train mathematics teachers in effective use of peer tutoring strategy (PTS) to enhance students engagement and achievement in Mathematics.