Teaching Through Reasoning with Sudoku Puzzles: Effects on Pupils’ Mathematical Achievement and Reasoning Performance

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study was conducted to find out the reasoning performance and mathematical achievement of pupils taught through two teaching strategiestraditional and teaching through Reasoning with Sudoku puzzles. The participants in the study were the 62 Grade 5 pupils of the a selected Laboratory School in Iloilo. The pupils were randomly chosen and match-paired on the basis of their pretest scores in the researcher-made mathematical achievement test. Thirty-one pupils from each section were given the interventions after the match pairing. The data-gathering instruments were the validated and reliability-tested researchermade mathematical achievement test and adapted reasoning performance test. The 60-item mathematical achievement test comprised 50 multiple choice items and 10 items on problem solving were based on topics about fractions, decimals, percents, ratio, and proportion. On the other hand, the reasoning performance test measured the pupils’ performance in verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning. The mean was used to determine the pupils’ level of mathematical achievement and reasoning performance, coupled with the use of standard deviation in determining the pupils’ homogeneity or heterogeneity in their scores. The inferential statistics utilized were the paired sample t-test to test the difference in the pretest and posttest scores of the pupils in both tests and the t-test for the independent samples to test the difference between the mean gain of the two groups in their mathematical achievement as well as reasoning performance scores. Statistical computation and processing were done through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 17. The 0.05 level of significance for two-tailed test was used for the inferential test. Results revealed that before the intervention the two groups were on equal level in their mathematical achievement and reasoning performance and showed homogeneity in their scores. Also, before the intervention, the pupils were hesitant in the use of Sudoku puzzles and in participating in the classroom because it was their first time to encounter the strategy. After the 7-week intervention the result showed that teaching through reasoning with Sudoku puzzles enhanced the pupils’ mathematics achievement and reasoning performance, making higher marks than those taught with the traditional strategy, where reasoning was not the main focus of the teaching process. The mean gain scores of the Sudoku group were higher than the mean gain scores of the non-Sudoku group; this implies that the strategy as well as Sudoku helped the pupils in the process of learning If pupils were given the chance to practice their reasoning skills, they could have high achievement and could improve their reasoning performance.