MATHEMAPHOBIA AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MATHEMATICS IN RIVERS STATE NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated mathemaphobia and academic performance of senior secondary school students in Mathematics in Rivers State Nigeria. Three objectives, three research questions and three null hypotheses were formulated to give the study a focus. The Taro Yamane method and simple random sampling technique were used to draw a sample of 371 Senior Secondary Class two (SSC2) students from a population of 5,318 in Port Harcourt Local Government Area of Rivers State. The analytic survey research design was used to conduct the study. The three instruments used for the study were the Students’ Mathemaphobia Prevalence Questionnaire (SMPQ), Mathemaphobic Diagnostic Questionnaire (MDQ) and Students’ Mathematics Grade Inventory (SMGI). The three
instruments were validated by experts in Mathematics education before usage. The reliability coefficients of 0.81, 0.76 and 0.73 were established for the instruments SMPQ, MDQ and SMGI respectively. The mean, standard deviation and z-test were the statistical tools used for analysis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed that there was a prevalence of mathemaphobia among the male and the female students with no significant statistical difference. It was also revealed that the non-mathemaphobic students had a higher performance in Mathematics than the mathemaphobic students with a statistical significant difference. The male mathemaphobic students performed better than the female mathemaphobic students in Mathematics though with no significant statistical difference. Based on the findings it was recommended that mathematics teachers should endeavour to diagnose the
mathemaphobic status of students, counsel the students and thereafter employ innovative strategies for instruction.