FIELD TRIP APPROACH TO TEACHING MATHEMATICS: AN EFFECTIVE WAY OF IMPROVING STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE IN MATHEMATICS

Abstract

This research study investigated the effect of Field Trip instructional
strategy on the academic achievement of Senior Secondary School
Students in Mathematics in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria and the
composite influence of gender and instructional strategy on the
achievement of the students. The study adopted a quasi-experimental
non-equivalent pre-test, post-test control group design. The sample
was made up of all senior secondary students of Ile-Ife in Osun State.
A total of fifty (50) intact classes in two randomly picked schools were
used to select a sample of fifty (50) Senior Secondary School One (SS
I) students. They were posted to the experimental and control groups
with each group having twenty-five students and taught over a four
week period. A Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) was used to
collect data. Mean, standard deviation and Analysis of Covariance
(ANCOVA) at 0.05 level of significance were used to analyse the data
obtained. The results showed that there was a significant effect of
field trip on academic performance of students in Mathematics in the
study area (F = 58.04, p < 0.05). Nevertheless, there was no
significant effect of gender and instructional strategy on the
achievement of students (F = 0.029, p > 0.05). The results of the study
were that Field Trip strategy is a good teaching method of enhancing
academic success of students in Mathematics regardless of the
gender. It was hence suggested that Mathematics teachers should
consider using field trip strategies in classroom teaching so as to
improve the performance and knowledge of students in the subject.