Effects of Problem-Solving Approach to Teaching and Learning of Mathematics on Students with Different Achievement Abilities in Kenyan Secondary Schools

Abstract

Despite mathematics being one of the core subjects in Kenya’s secondary school curriculum, many students have continued to perform dismally in the subject in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) with the overall national mean score remaining below 30%. This study aimed at exploring whether there were any significant differences in mathematics’ mean achievement scores of the High Achievers (HAs) and Low Achievers (LAs) between the experimental and control groups. It was anchored on the social constructivism learning theory. The study employed a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group post-test only design. The study population was 2162 form two learners from 26 schools. A purposive sampling technique was used to sample 14 schools that were at the same level in syllabus coverage and had two streams. Simple random sampling was employed to get the study sample of eight schools with 774 form two learners. Data collection instruments were Baseline Mathematics Achievement Test (BMAT) and Post Mathematics Achievement Test (PMAT). The study data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics where the means, standard deviations and independent samples t-test to test significant differences in means at an alpha value of 0.05 were used with the help of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 29. In this study, findings indicated that there was a significant difference between the mean mathematics achievement scores of HAs and LAs taught through PSA as compared to those taught by conventional methods. This good performance was perhaps due to leaner active involvement, peer interactions, self-directed learning and increased confidence among the learners. This enhanced better understanding of the mathematics concepts which finally translated to improved performance. It was recommended that teachers of mathematics should be encouraged to use PSA so as to improve the performance of learners in mathematics especially LAs who are usually believed to lower the school performance mean scores.