Symbolic notations and students’ achievements in algebra

Abstract

Ebiendele E. Peter and Adetunji A. Olaoye

This study focuses on symbolic notations and its impact on students’ achievement in Algebra. The main reason for this study rests on the observation from personal and professional experiences on students’ increasing hatred for Algebra. One hundred and fifty (150) Senior Secondary School Students (SSS) from Ojo Local Education District, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria formed the sample population for the study. Three research instruments were used for the study, questionnaires were constructed for both students’ and teacher’s to measure students’ perceptions about symbolic notations like symbols, letters and signs in Algebra and how it affect their learning of Algebra, while the teacher’s instruments measure the mode/strategies of teaching notation symbols in Algebra at the classroom levels. t-test and Chi-square (χ2 ) at 0.05 level of significance were used to test the stated hypotheses. Results from the hypotheses among others shows that students’ do not have interest in Algebra and the usefulness of Algebraic notations are not known to them because they were not introduced to Algebraic topics with notations symbols early enough in schools. Also, due to the inadequate modes/strategies in handling notations symbols by the teacher’s at the classrooms also resulted in significant differences between the performance of students’ in the achievement test with symbolic notations and without symbolic notations. It was recommended among others that the schools should have mathematics laboratories where different mathematics teaching materials could easily be at the reach of the teacher’s.