Influence of Gender and Environmental Factors on Students’ Conceptions of Selected Mathematical Concepts in the Senior Secondary School Mathematics Curriculum

Abstract

The study employed the survey design to assess secondary school students’ conceptions of some basic mathematical concepts. The design consisted of four independent variables: gender (male and female), school location (urban and rural), school type (public and private), and school mode (boys, girls, and co-educational schools). The dependent variable was the students’ right conceptions scores. The stratified random sampling technique was used to select 4332 students that adequately represented all the specific groups in the population. The reliability of the two-tier diagnostic multiple-choice instrument was established through the Kuder-Richardson Formular-20 and a coefficient of 0.85 was obtained. The t-test statistic, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and the univariate analysis of variance were used to test the two null hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The results showed low students’ conceptions of mathematics, no significant gender influence on students’ conceptions of mathematics and significant environmental factors influence on students’ conception of mathematics. To improve students’ understanding and achievement in mathematics, it is necessary to develop strategies for conceptual change instruction in mathematics