The Impact of Collaborative Learning on Pupils’ Attitude and Performance in Earth Geometry: A Case of Kitwe District, Zambia

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue VIII, August 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186

The Impact of Collaborative Learning on Pupils’ Attitude and Performance in Earth Geometry: A Case of Kitwe District, Zambia

Evans Musonda^1*, Athanasius Lunjebe^2
1Mukuba University, School of Mathematics and Natural Science, P.O BOX 20382, Kitwe, Zambia
²School of Mathematics and Natural Science, Copperbelt University, P.O BOX 21692, Kitwe, Zambia

Abstract:-This study was conducted in order to show the impact of Collaborative Learning on pupils’ attitude and performance in Earth Geometry by grade 12 pupils in Kitwe Districtexploring the following research questions; (i) Does Collaborative Learning have an impact on pupils’ performance in Earth Geometry? (ii) Does Collaborative Learning method have an impact on pupils’ performance by gender? (iii)Does Collaborative Learning have an impact on pupils’ attitude towards Earth Geometry? The problem of poor performance of the Grade 12 pupils in Mathematics, especially in Earth Geometry has been a thorny issue. To improve the performance in Earth Geometry, a study was conducted on grade 12 pupils of Mukuba Secondary School and Helen Kaunda School of Kitwe District. The study population included 155 pupils from Mukuba and Helen Kaunda Secondary Schools of Kitwe District. The study was based on the three research questions and two hypotheses. The research method used was a Quantitative research. The sample size was 155 pupils comprising 80 male and 75 female pupils. Experimental Design and a Mathematics Attitude Questionnaire were used. The two groups were made from two classes picked at random from 7 classes of Mukuba Secondary School and another pair was picked at random from 6 classes of Helen Kaunda Secondary School. Particularly, 40 pupils were randomly assigned to the Experimental Group and 40 pupils to Control Group from Mukuba Secondary School. Furthermore, 35 pupils were randomly assigned to the Experimental Group and 40 to Control Group from Helen Kaunda Secondary School. These two pair of groups were subjected to pre-test. The Experimental Groups were taught using Collaborative Learning Approach while the Control groups were taught using Conventional Approach. The analysis of data was done using SPSS version 16, considering the mean and standard deviation. Also, the Independent sample t-test was conducted at alpha (α) = 0.05 to analysis the results of the pre-test and post-test scores. The study revealed that there was statistically significant mean difference in the post-test scores for Experimental groups (Mean = 63.3, standard = 16.9) and the Control group (Mean = 48.7, standard deviation = 18.4), p = .000 for Mukuba Secondary School and Experimental groups (Mean = 65.5, standard deviation = 19.8) and the Control groups (Mean = 51.9, standard deviation = 21.2), p = .005 for Helen Kaunda Secondary School. Furthermore, the study showed that there was no statistically significant mean difference in the Pre-test scores for Experimental group (Mean = 26.7, standard deviation = 17.9) and the Control group (Mean = 26.6, standard deviation = 17.2), p = .980 for Mukuba Secondary School and Experimental group (Mean = 24.8, standard deviation = 15.7) and the control group (Mean = 25.2, standard deviation = 15.9), p = .902 for Helen Kaunda Secondary School. The study also revealed that post-test scores mean of female and male pupils were statistically insignificant (P-Value=0.640>α=0.05,t=0.470).Then analysis of the MAQ indicated that most pupils had a positive attitude towards Earth Geometry and it amounted to 80.7% while 11.3% showed no effect on the attitude after the post-test from both Schools. Therefore, teaching Earth Geometry using Collaborative Learning Approach was found to have a positive impact on pupils understanding of Earth Geometry because of the high marks after its administration. The study further revealed that pupils had challenges in calculation of the surface area between two meridians and the shortest distance between points on the same latitude which are not diametrically opposite but non the less were solved with more emphasis on them.

Read More