Cooperative Learning Strategy and Students Performance in Mathematics in Junior High School in Hohoe Municipality, Ghana

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of cooperative learning strategy on student’s performance in mathematics at selected Junior High School in Volta Region of Ghana. The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design. The sample for the study consisted of two hundred and sixty-six (266) Junior High School 2 mathematics students selected from two Junior High Schools in Hohoe municipality of Volta Region in Ghana. The instrument for data collection was Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT). The instrument was validated by two experts and has reliability index of 0.87 obtained through the use of Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Two objectives and two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The data collected were analyzed using adjusted mean and standard deviation to answer the objectives while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the null hypothesis at alpha level of 0.05. The finding of the study confirmed that students performed better using cooperative learning strategy irrespective of their ability level than those students who were taught using the traditional method. The test of interaction showed that gender had no significant interaction with teaching strategy on students mean performance. The study concluded that cooperative learning strategy is a good teaching method for teaching mathematics. The study recommended that mathematics teachers should adopt the cooperative learning strategy in order to improve students’ performance, social interaction skills and foster meta-cognition in students. The study also recommended that workshops should be organized by educational bodies to emphasize and enlighten teachers and mathematics educators on the importance of using cooperative learning strategy in the learning and teaching in Junior High schools in Ghana.