Effect of Geogebra and grapes on students’ achievement in the teaching and learning of Mathematics in secondary schools in Bomet County, Kenya.

Abstract

The poor performance of students in Mathematics at KCSE level has been an issue of concern to parents, the Kenyan government and all the education stakeholders. Mathematics teaching and learning is crucial to the future of Kenya‟s knowledge economy and deserves a special focus and attention in our education system. This poor performance in mathematics prompted the researcher to investigate the role which GeoGebra and Grapes can play in the teaching and learning of Geometry in secondary school mathematics. The objectives of the study were to determine the effectiveness of using Grapes and GeoGebra on students‟ learning of graphs as compared to the traditional approach, to establish whether the use of GeoGebra and Grapes can improve the performance in mathematics for both boys and girls, to determine students‟ perceptions on the use of Grapes and GeoGebra in the teaching and learning of graphical work and to determine whether the teaching method influence the performance of students in mathematics. This study was guided by Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989). Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) explains computer-usage behavior that relates to reasons why some people use computers and their attitudes towards them. This study adopted Solomon four group experimental research design. The respondents were selected using both stratified and simple random sampling. The study adopted post positivist world view where knowledge is developed through careful observation and measurement of the objective reality that exists out there in the world. Data was collected through the use of students‟ questionnaires, pre-test and post-test. Analysis of data was done using both descriptive and inferential statistics. For descriptive statistics, frequency tables, means and percentages were used. Anova, t-test and Multiple Regression Analysis were employed for the inferential statistics. The study found out that the students who were taught using Grapes and GeoGebra performed much better than those who were taught using the conventional method. The study also found out that gender differences were not seen to affect the performance of students in mathematics after being taught using Grapes and GeoGebra. It is recommended that ICT integration in the teaching of Mathematics should be included in the curriculum of pre-service teachers at the university level. It is also recommended that the teaching and learning of Mathematics should involve a lot of practical activities which engage both boys and girls equally through out the lesson. GeoGebra and Grapes should be used in the teaching and learning of Mathematics in Kenyan secondary schools as the study found out that the two softwares helped the students to understand difficult and abstract concepts in Geometry. The findings of this study would be useful to the quality assurance and standard officers within the ministry of education in Kenya. The findings will enable them to come up with better methods of teaching and learning of mathematics in Kenyan secondary schools and hence achieving better results at KCSE level. The study will also benefit Kenyan secondary school mathematics teachers by giving them insight on how GeoGebra and Grapes can be used to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics