Common Process Errors in Geometry Committed by Students from Private and Public Secondary Schools in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study sought to identify the common process errors of senior secondary school students in geometry in Anambra State. A descriptive survey design method was used. Three research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. Multiple stage sampling procedure was used to sample 297 senior secondary three (SS3) students from a population of 6265 for the study. The Mathematics Diagnostic Test (MDT) was the instruments used for data collection which was validated by three experts. Theinter-rater method was used to establish the reliability of the instrument which yielded a reliability index of 0.88. The data collected were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages and Mann Whitney U test. Findings of the study showed among others that; students from public schools in Anambra state committed more common process errors in geometry than their private school counterparts; students from rural locations committed more common process errors in geometry than those from urban locations. There was significant difference in the frequencies of the common process errors committed by SS3 students based on school ownership: students from public schools committed more errors than those from private schools. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that school administrators should constantly organize conferences, seminars and workshops for both the public and private schools’ mathematics teachers. This will help to bridge any gap that might exist between teaching of mathematics in the public and private schools.