Abstract
<p>Evidence suggests strong support for innovative teaching approaches in mathematics intervention in universities all over the world and a robust backing has been accorded to co-operative learning pedagogy, which provides strong professional development to teachers on ways of promoting students’ social skills and aiding them to learn in a constructivist way. There is no doubt that co-operative learning is one of the most extensively documented methods to pedagogy in mathematics but little is known about its efficacy in the Nigerian university education setting. This study investigated the effectiveness of co-operative learning strategy on the achievement in mathematics of 220 university students in Nigeria within the blueprint of quasi-experimental research of Solomon four non-equivalent control group design. It also examined the influence of gender on students’ achievement in mathematics. Achievement in mathematics was measured by the differentiation achievement test with KR-20 of 0.86 and data collected for the study were analysed by adopting the independent samples t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed significant main effect of co-operative learning strategy on students’ achievement in mathematics whereas no significant main influence of gender was found on the dependent measure. Also, there was no significant interaction effect of treatment and gender on students’ achievement in mathematics. Based on the positive effect of cooperative learning strategy on university students’ achievement in mathematics in this study, it is paramount to adjust cooperative learning principles to enhance the needs of universities in Nigeria. Integrating technology to enhance enactment of major pedagogical elements of cooperative learning and to differentiate teaching and learning to improve numerous needs of students may provide a leeway to optimize mathematics results for Nigerian students.</p>
Highlights
This study assesses the efficacy of cooperative learning in tertiary mathematics, in terms of students’ achievement during lessons
The findings of this study have shown that the co-operative learning strategy enhanced learners’ achievement in mathematics more than the conventional teaching method; Slavin and Lake (2008) previously claimed that there was a significant difference between the two approaches
This study has investigated the effectiveness of applying co-operative learning strategy in a university-level mathematics course in terms of student achievement
Summary
This study assesses the efficacy of cooperative learning in tertiary mathematics, in terms of students’ achievement during lessons. Mathematics educators are always motivated to advance student performance and achievement in the subject area. Mathematics is regarded as a difficult and uninteresting subject by many students, with weaker students showing anxiety about it, and displaying low mathematics self-efficacy and negative attitudes. Students who are deficient in mathematics proficiency are less successful and perform poorly in university tests and examinations. This low proficiency in mathematics reveals that students are not actively involved in constructing and developing knowledge, as they receive mathematics knowledge passively and are less motivated and less inspired to learn the subject successfully. Particular reports endorsing the reformation of mathematics teaching (National Council of Teaching of Mathematics [NCTM], 1989) have brought about the need for alterations in educational practice
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