Examining Personalisation of Instruction, Attitudes toward and Achievement in Mathematics Word Problems among Nigerian Senior Secondary School Students

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of a personalised print-based instruction versus a non-personalised print-based instruction on the attitudes toward mathematics word problems of 350 senior secondary school year one Nigerian students within the blueprint of a quantitative research of pre-treatment-intervention-post-treatment non-equivalent control group quasi-experimental design with a survey design of an ex-post facto type. The Attitudes toward Mathematics Word Problem Inventory (ATMWPI) and Achievement in Mathematics Word Problem Test (AMWPT) were used to collect data relating to the dependent measures. The results of the data analyses showed that the personalised instruction students had higher levels of self-confidence, liking, usefulness, and motivation but recorded low level of anxiety regarding mathematics word problems compared with the non-personalised group students. While the personalised instruction students were more influenced by the context of the word problem than their non-personalised instruction counterparts, the experimental and control groups’ students did differ on their attitudes toward mathematics word problem as a male domain. In addition, self-confidence, liking, usefulness, motivation, context, and treatment had statistically significant predictive effect on achievement in mathematics word problem whereas anxiety and male domain dimensions of attitudes toward mathematics word problem had no statistically significant predictive effect on achievement in mathematics word problem.