Twenty-sixth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

Mathematics is a core subject in the Nigerian school curriculum and compulsory at primary and secondary school levels of education in the country. Poor performance of students in mathematics by children has been attributed to such factors as inadequate number of qualified teachers, improper method of teaching mathematics, lack of mathematics laboratory and insufficient instructional materials, and these factors are more predominant in disadvantaged rural settings. We used a quasi- experimental factorial research design with pre-test and post-test, to test the hypothesis that there will be no difference in mathematics achievement of students in urban and rural settings if teaching methods and instructional materials are optimal. A total of 600 students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The interaction of treatment and location of school was also significant (F = 5.954; p<.05), implying that pupils in the urban area taught with instructional aids perform significantly better than their counterparts in semiurban and rural areas. Also, the pupils in the semi-urban area taught with instructional aids perform significantly better than their counterparts in the rural area. It is concluded that provision of optimal teaching resources improved mathematics performance of students in both rural and urban settings but performance of those student in rural areas remained significantly lower than those in semi-urban and urban areas. Eliminating inequality in mathematics performance between students in rural and urban communities in Nigeria may require more than improving instructional methods and materials.