A Study of the Effectiveness of the Self-instructional Material of the Foundation Course in Mathematics

Abstract

The present study results reveal that, the developed course content reached the target learners those who do not have mathematics at their formal education and those admissions made through Eligibility Test. Over all out of five criterion tests, the reference group showed better performance on three tests, and the experimental group showed better performance on two tests. It reveals that, the developed course content has the internal validity. Thus it shows that the self-Instructional Course Material in Mathematics is equally effective with that of the Course Material studied by Intermediate students with Mathematics. The performance of the experimental group [post-test scores] in the achievement test in Mathematics was better when compared with pre-test scores of the distance learners taught through Self- Instructional Course Material. Further, the results show that the self-Instructional Course Material in Mathematics is equally effective when the performance of experimental group was compared with that of the reference group i.e. Intermediate students with Mathematics. The study revealed that, the analysis of the data during the course development reveal that, there is no significant difference on the scores of comprehensive and that of combined criterion tests. It shows that the course content as a whole is effective and students’ comprehensive level.