EFFECTS OF LABORATORY AND HEURISTIC TEACHING STRATEGIES ON PERFORMANCE, RETENTION AND ANXIETY IN TRIGONOMETRY AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN KATSINA STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

The study examined the Effect of Laboratory and Heuristic Teaching Strategies on Performance; Retention and Anxiety in Trigonometry among Senior Secondary Students in Katsina State, Nigeria. The study developed three objectives and tested three null hypotheses. The study adopted Quasi-experimental design of the nonequivalent control group. The population of the study comprised of 17257 SS II students from 25 public Senior Secondary Schools in Katsina Zonal Education Quality Assurance. 177 students from 6 intact classes of SS II were sampled using purposive sampling technique for the study. Two validated instruments, Trigonometry Performance Test (TPT) and Mathematics Anxiety Questionnaire (MAQ) with reliability coefficient of 0.76 obtained using Pearson product moment correlation coefficient were used for data collection. Research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation, while null hypotheses were tested using ANOVA, Independent sample T-test, Mann-Whitney U test and Krusall wallis H-test at p ≤0.05 level of significance. The major findings revealed that, there was a significant difference in the mean academic performance, retention and anxiety level between those taught using laboratory and heuristic strategies and those taught using lecture method, it was concluded that the experimental groups, who were taught using laboratory and heuristic teaching strategies perform better than the control group who were taught using lecture method. It was concluded that both laboratory and heuristic teaching strategies are capable of improving student’s academic performance, retention and reduce student’s anxiety significantly. The study recommends among others that mathematics Teachers should implement the use of laboratory and heuristic teaching strategies to enhance academic performance, retention and reduce anxiety level of students.