Effects of Mathematics Modelling on Mathematics Achievement and Attitude of Pre-Service Teachers of Colleges of Education in Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of Mathematical Modeling on Mathematics Achievement and Attitude of Pre-Service Teachers in Niger State, Nigeria. It was an attempt to ease students’ difficulties in comprehending Mathematics. Two colleges of Education were purposively selected from Niger State with a sample size of 84 (42 for experimental and 42 for control group). Two research instruments Mathematical Modeling Achievement Test (MMAT) and Attitude towards Mathematical Modeling Questionnaire (ATMMQ) were used for data collection. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and Cronbach alpha were used to determine the reliability coefficient of the instruments as 0.76 and 0.75. The research questions were answered using mean rank and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested using independent sample t-test and Mann Whitney (U) test at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that students taught mathematics using Mathematical Modeling performed better than their counterparts taught using lecture method. However, there was no significant difference in the achievement score of male and female pre-service Mathematics Teachers taught Mathematics using Mathematical Modeling. Modeling therefore, was recommended to be used by Mathematics teachers with a view to improving students’ achievement in Mathematics. Also modeling should be taught at Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) level in order to prepare Pre-service teachers towards real task in the field of Mathematics.