International Journal of Educational Benchmark (IJEB) - Vol. 8, Issue 2, July/September 2017

Published by

Benchmark Journals
Department of Vocational Education,
University of Uyo, Nigeria

International Journal of Educational
Benchmark (IJEB)

Vol. 8, Issue 2, July/September 2017

Impact Factor .861

Uyo, Nigeria 2017

Editorial Board Members of International Journal of Educational
Benchmark

Chief Editorial Officer
Professor G. A. Akpan
University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Prof. Sri Milfayetty State University of Medan North
Sumatera, Indonesia

Prof. Ignatius Uduk University of Uyo, Nigeria

Prof. E. B. Usoro University of Uyo, Nigeria

Dr. K. Nachimuthu Assistant Professor, Periyar University, Salem,
Tamil Nadu, India.

Dr. Sonny D. Abia Miramar, Florida. USA

Prof. B.A. Ladani Federal University, Dutsin-ma, Nigeria

Prof. A. O. Ekong University of Uyo, Nigeria
Dr. T. C. Ogbuanya University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Prof Ayodeji Badejo Lagos State University Ojo.

Dr. E. U. Joseph University of Uyo, Nigeria

Prof. E. C. Osinem University of Nigeria, Nsukka

Dr. E. E. Asuquo University of Uyo, Nigeria

Prof. V. E. Onweh Michael Okpara University of Agriculture,
Umudike, Nigeria

Prof. Samuel I. Akinseinde Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria

Dr. Uduak A. Okon University of Uyo, Nigeria

Prof E. J. Udoh University of Uyo, Nigeria

Asso. Prof. P.C. Okwelle Rivers State University of Science and
Technology

Dr. Uduak Enang University of Uyo, Nigeria

Dr. Uwakwe Okereke IgbokweAbia State University, Uturu, E-mail:
[email protected]

ii

Prof. V.C. Chibuike Enugu State University of Technology
Prof. K.R.E. Okoye Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka
Prof. Chris Chukuwrah University of Calabar, Nigeria
Dr. Paulinus Etim University of Uyo, Nigeria
Dr. P. S. William University of Uyo, Nigeria

iii

Copyright© 2017 Benchmark Journals
©Department of Vocational Education,

University of Uyo, Nigeria

© 2017 Benchmark Journals
©Department of Vocational Education,
Faculty of Education, University of Uyo, Nigeria

Town Campus, P.M.B 1017
Tel:+234-7035316844, +234-8100603902
Email:[email protected]

[email protected]
Web: http://www. benchmarkjournals.com

iv

International Journal of Educational Benchmark

About the Journal

The “International Journal of Educational Benchmark” (IJEB), is a multidisciplinary, double-
blind, peer reviewed, open access journal, publishing original academic articles that deal with
issues of international relevance in educational theory, methodology and practice. The
journal has a distinguished editorial board with extensive academic records, helping to ensure
that high academic quality benchmarks and scientific standards are maintained. IJEB
publishes theoretical and empirical and theoretical papers. IJEB seeks to acquaint a wide
spectrum of readers with the quality research being done in various educational institutions,
research bodies and intellectual institutions. IJEB therefore welcomes wide comparative and
transnational studies, essays, research papers that are addressing this community’s qualitative
and quantitative concerns. Importance and preference will be given to those articles that
address and contribute to important disciplinary and interdisciplinary queries, clarifications,
problem statements and controversies. The journal publishes original research articles on a
wide range of topics of contemporary relevance in the broad fields of Arts, Education and
Humanities.

Journal Indexing and Abstracting

Google scholar
Scientific indexing services
www.academickeys.com
www.academia.com
Research gate

Directorate of Research Journals
ISI Indexing

v

GUIDELINES FOR PERPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS TO
IJEB

1. Manuscript should be original, clearly and precisely presented in English (preferable
double space and saved in Word Documents).

2. Each submission should not be longer than 7000 words (14 printed pages) in total,
including title, author(s) information, Tables, Figures, and References. Each article
should be accompanied by an abstract of approximately 150 words typed on the
separated sheet.

3. Preparation of Manuscript: IJEB adhere to a rigorous double-blind reviewing policy
in which the identity of both the reviewer and author are always concealed from both
parties. All manuscript are reviewed initially by the editorial board and only those
papers that meet the scientific and editorial standards of the journal and fit the aims
and scope of the journal, will be sent for blind review. Papers are further subjected to
plagiarism detector process. Hence, contribution and consideration for publication is
based on the understanding that the paper is not simultaneously under consideration
elsewhere and that they are the original work of the author(s).

4. Author(s) assign copyright to Benchmark Educational Services.

All submissions to the journal are to be sent to the editor through:
[email protected]
Author(s) can also use the online platform for submission of manuscripts-
http//: www. benchmarkjournals.com

vi

PAPER TEMPLATE

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission’ s
compliance with all the following items and submission may be returned to authors that do
not adhere to these guidelines.

1. The submission has not been previously published nor is it under consideration by
another journal

2. The submission is written in English without technical terms and jargons
3. Cover sheet should contain title, full name, institutional affiliation, address, phone and

email address.
4. Text should be type with double line spacing, 30mm margins and 12 font size Times

New Roman. It must include abstract, keywords, background, research problem,
objectives, literature review/theoretical framework. Methodology must be written in
prose and not with sub-headings, data discussions and policy recommendations.
5. References should strictly follow the current APA format.
6. Tables should be self-explanatory and inserted where it is supposed to appear in the
body of the paper.
7. An abstract of 200 words is included for articles
8. The author(s) profile is complete and updated

Galley proof will be sent to the corresponding author. The author(s) are responsible for
reading the galley proof.

The articles published in Benchmark Journals are subject to copyright. All rights are reserved
by Benchmark Educational Services, Nigeria.

,

vii

International Journal of Educational Benchmark

ISSN: ONLINE: 2489-0170, PRINT: 2489-4162
Volume 8, Issue 2, July/September 2017
TABLE OF CONTENTS

S/NO TITLE AUTHOR(S) PAGE
1 NO
2 The Effect of Delay on Recall among Makir Zakpe College Samuel Terzungwe Anhange, Ph.D, 1-10
3 Students in Makurdi Metropolis, Nigeria Vivian Ngohile kombo
4 & Philip Aondowase Iorwuese 11-23
5 Three Dimensional (3D) Geometry and Visualising Power Bassey, Ubong Effiong & Okoro, 24-31
6 of the Learner: A Challenge to Mathematics Instruction. Sunday Nyeche
7 Towards Effective School Supervision for Quality Dr. Mohammed Umar Sanda 32-40
Education in Nigeria: A Challenge for Educational
8 Administrators Bassey, Iberedem Sylvester & Ado, 41-49
9 Effect of Trigoludo and Trigoratio Games on Mathematics Isaac Bennet
Students’ Performances in Trigonometry in Abak Local 50-58
Government Area. Dr. Dorcas S. Daramola 59-66
Dr. Adekunle T. Olutola
Assessing the Impact of School Environment on Academic Dr. Mayowa O. Ogunjimi 67-77
Performance of Senior Secondary School Students in Abubakar Sadiq Haruna, Ph.D
Economics. Umar Hassan 78-87
Assessment of students’ preferences for Online counselling Okon, D. P. Ph.D &
of test anxiety in Federal College of Education, Kano Essien, E. N. Ph.D

Formal Agricultural Information Sources and Farmers’
Satisfaction in Crop Production in Akwa Ibom State
North-East Senatorial District.

Influence of Parental Provision and Protection on Oyo-Ita, M. E.
Academic Achievement of Students in Biology in Calabar Bassey, P. U. (Ph.D)
Education Zone of Cross River State, Nigeria & Obogo, G. O.
Pupils’ Disruptive Behaviour and Self Concept Arit Okonobong Atakpa,
Development of Primary School Pupils in Uyo Local Dr. Immaculata G. Umoh &
Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. Dr. A. U. Inyon

10 Re-Training Skill Needs for Agricultural Science Teachers Dr. Uduakobong Aniebiat Okon, 88-95

and Animal Husbandry Trade Curriculum Implementation Bishie-Unnung Stephanie and

in Secondary Schools. Gladys Eyo Agbor

11 Entrepreneurial Skills Acquisition for Youth Abidiak A. Nduononwi (Ph. D), 96-105
Employability in Nigeria: Technical Education Comfort G. Surveyor,
Intervention Idara N. Nduaesa & Ime E.
Bassey

12 An Analysis of Pre-service Chemistry Teachers' Oyakhirome, A. Helen Ph.D 106-111
Cognitive Preferences in Delta State of Nigeria. Omoifo ,C. N. (Prof)

viii

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

The Effect of Delay on Recall among Makir Zakpe College Students in
Makurdi Metropolis, Nigeria

Samuel Terzungwe Anhange, Ph.D, Vivian Ngohile Akombo
& Philip Aondowase Iorwuese*.

Department of Psychology,
Benue State University Makurdi,

P. M. B. 102119 Makurdi,
Benue State, Nigeria

[email protected]

Abstract
This study investigated the effect of delay on recall among Makir Zakpe college students in
Makurdi metropolis. A total of 30 participants consisting of 15(50%) males and 15(50%)
females students within the age range of 12-18years with the mean age of 15.571
(SD=1.034) were selected through simple random sampling method. A question and answer
booklet were used to collect data from the participants. Statistical analysis involved the use
of Univariate Analysis of Variance. The results indicated that, there was a significant effect
of nature of feedback on recall among Makir Zakpe college students in Makurdi metropolis.
There was a significant sex difference on recall among Makir Zakpe college students in
Makurdi Metropolis. There was no significant difference between young and old students of
Makir Zakpe College on recall. Finally, there was no significant interaction effect of nature
of feedback, sex and age on recall among Makir Zakpe college students. It was therefore
recommended that; since nature of feedback has a significant effect on recall, teachers
should avoid giving tests that involve long delays in other to enhance better performance
among students. Since significant sex difference exist on recall, teachers should ensure that
tests that males could recall easily should be separated from those they cannot and vice
versa to avoid bias. It was also recommended that, conducive environment should be
provided for students so as to enhance a better encoding, retention and retrieval.

Keywords: Delay, Recall, Immediate Feedback, Memory, Secondary School Students.

Introduction

The advantages of repeated recall attempts in memory tasks are well documented in
laboratory studies with humans. Thus, people have always been fascinated by memory- the
ability to store and retrieve information. Indeed, the role of memory in the adaptation and
survival of human beings cannot be overemphasized. As an adaptive prose, memory is seen
as dynamic mechanism associated with storing, retaining and retrieving information about
past experience (Naine, 2009). Retrieval of information might occur in memory in
recognition and recall. In task, recognition one is given items from a list he or she has studied
and is then asked to indicate whether or not he or she recognizes them as haven been part of
the list. In contrast, the required task requires the individual to generate the retrieval cues by

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 1

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

him or herself. Mefoh (2006) for example identified several factors that can positively
influence memory recall, including sensory modality and age.

These studies have generally used free recall to elicit event details, rather than
questions or probes that tap recognition memory. Given that information obtained in free
recall is typically more accurate than that elicited by more specific questions, it is perhaps not
surprising that the general findings has been increased recall of correct information with only
relatively minor increases in errors. Hypermnesia has been observed with even younger
children when recalling personally experienced events. La Rooy, Pipe & Murray (2007)
examined 5- and 6-year-old children’s verbal recall across repeated interviews about an event
in which they had participated. When children were interviewed using free recall and open-
ended cues. Immediately after the event and again 24 hours later, both reminiscence and
hypermnesia occurred. Further, the new details reported in the repeated interview were
highly accurate (92%, Experiment I). When the repeated interviews both occurred after a 6-
month delay (Experiment 3), less new information was reported in the second interview, and
accuracy also declined (72%). However, the accuracy of the new information is relatively
high compared to several previous studies finding that new information across repeated
interviews is likely to be highly inaccurate (Peterson, Moores, & White, 2001).Typically, in
these studies only 50% or less of the additional items of information recalled were accurate.
Thus, both positive (increases in amount of information recalled) and negative effects
(decreases in accuracy of new information recalled) have been observed in children’s event
memory.

In all of these studies reporting high error rates in previously unreported information,
however, the repeated interviews were separated by delays of months and years, rather than
24 hours as in La Rooy, Pipe & Murray (2007) suggesting that it is the delay between
repeated interviews, rather than the delay since the event that determines the accuracy of the
additional information gained by repeated interviewing. One objective of the current study
was to examine this possibility directly, by comparing the amount and accuracy of new
information reported across a long (6-month) delay between interviews, and a short (24-hour)
delay between interviews conducted 6 months after the event. The practical significance of
this comparison is straight forward; recommendations regarding the likely reliability of
previously unreported information may depend on the delay’ between the interviews.
Interestingly, studies with non-human animals and young infants have demonstrated that
context reinstatement can have delayed effects. Raj, Dharmangadan and Subramony (2007)
investigated whether recall of visually and auditorily presented meaningful and non-
meaningful materials are dependent on the levels of hemispheric dominance and preferred
modality. Using materials such as test of hemispheric dominance and serial modality
preference instrument, the researchers presented list of trigrams to 60 males and female
adolescents. Result showed gender differences in recall of visually presented words and an
interaction effect in recall of visually presented triagrams. Jackson and Rushton (2006) also
found a significant sex difference on recall. Ryan, Kreiner and Tree (2008) who reported that
the effects of gender on verbal learning tasks become non-significant once age and education
levels are taken into account.

Manzanero, El-Astal and Aroztegui (2009) conducted an experiment to test the effect
of both retention (immediate vs. delayed one week) and implication degree (neutral vs.
involved perspectives) over accuracy and quality of a complex event memory. 56 subjects
witnessed a traffic accident adopting the role of either an observer or one of the actors
involved in the accident. Subsequently they were asked to describe what happened either

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 2

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

immediately or a week later. Several variables on recall were measured. All statistically
significant variables were globally analyzed through High Dimensional Visualization (HDV).
The results show that from the perspective of codification and taking into consideration the
different degrees of involvement, the accuracy of the statements affects only in the
immediate recovery since the subjects who encode the incident from the perspective of one
of the players involved in the accident appear to ignore the less relevant information from
their own perspective providing more specific and organized statements, although also more
emotional and autobiographical and with most self-references and personal comments. The
HDV graph representing all significant variables shows a clear distinction of memories due
to Subjects perspective.

The beneficial effects of corrective feedback on learning are flow beyond dispute
(Butler & Roediger. 2008).When is best to give that feedback, however, remains an
unresolved question. It is this question that is addressed in the present article. Some
researchers, following behaviour ist tenets that reinforcements need to be given quickly to be
effective, have thought that it is essential to give feedback immediately. Guzman-Munoz and
Johnson (2007) showed that in learning geographical representations, delayed feedback—
which entailed seeing an entire map, including the relations among to-be-learned places—
resulted in a more laborious acquisition but better eventual retention than did immediate
feedback on a test of the location of individual places. Guzman- Munoz and Johnson’s result,
however, might have obtained not because of the delayed feedback per se, but rather because
the configural information—which was helpful to performance in this task was more salient
in the delayed than in the immediate feedback case, as Guzman-Munoz and Johnson
suggested. Other researchers have proposed other reasons for why delayed feedback might
enhance later memory. Bjork & Linn (2006) proposed the idea that processing difficulties at
the time of encoding can enhance memory. The processing of delayed feedback may be more
difficult than the processing of immediate feedback. Butler et al., (2007) pointed to
differences in the spacing of the to-be-learned materials that obtain between immediate and
delayed feedback conditions, the repetitions of the information with immediate feedback tend
to be massed, whereas those with delayed feedback tend to be more dispersed or spaced.
Insofar as spaced practice can benefit memory, as has often been shown (see Cepeda,
Pashler, Vul. Wixted, & Rohrer, 2006. for a review), delayed feedback should benefit
memory.

Differential lag to test may have contributed to some of the results. For example, in
Experiment 1 reported by Butler et al., (2007), immediate feedback was given right after
reading the to-be- remembered passages, whereas delayed feedback was given only 10
minutes later, and the final test was conducted at a 1-day interval (i.e., 1,400 min later). The
ratio for the time from immediate feedback to the final test to the total from initial test to the
final test (1,400 min/1,400 min 51.00) and that for the time from delayed feedback to the
final test to the initial test to the final test (1,390 min/I 400 min 5 .99) were almost identical.
This experiment failed to demonstrate a significant DRE. In their second experiment,
however, these lag-to-test ratios differed more substantially. As before, the ratio for
immediate feedback was close to 1.00.

The delayed feedback in this second experiment was given 1 day following the initial
test, with the final test being 7 days following initial test, resulting in a ratio of .86—a much
greater difference than in the first experiment —and a significant DRE was produced.
Although there are exceptions (see Butler & Roediger, 2008), it seems plausible that much
the advantage of delayed feedback over immediate feedback that has been documented in

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 3

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

past studies was attributable to a difference between conditions in lag to test. If the lag to test
were constant, it is possible that no delayed feedback effect would occur, or even that
immediate feedback would produce superior results.

La Rooy, Pipe and Murray (2007) examined the effects of context reinstatement as
means of enhancing 5- and 6-year-old children’s event memory in repeated interviews after a
6-month delay. Children were interviewed immediately after the event (baseline interview)
and twice at a 6-month delay, with 24 hours between interviews. The first 6-month interview
was conducted in a perfect-context reinstatement (n¼15), imperfect-context reinstatement
(n¼16), or no-context reinstatement (n¼15) condition. The second 6-month interview was
conducted 24 hours later with no-context reinstatement for all children. Context
reinstatement attenuated the effects of delay on recall. The accuracy of the details reported
was greater in the perfect-context compared to the imperfect- context and no-context
conditions. Details repeated between the immediate-baseline interview and in the first 6-
month interview were more accurate than details repeated between the first and second 6-
month interview. There was no increase in recall (hypermnesia) across the first and second 6-
month interviews in any condition. Practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Trujillo (2010) examined factors related to word list performance predictions made
by younger and older adults. A performance prediction is an estimate made prior to being
exposed to the material that is studied for a specific task. The current study examined the age
differences in a sample of 59 older adults (M = 76.83 years old, SD = 8.28) and 51 younger
adults (M = 21.19 years old, SD = 3.22) on performance predictions for both an immediate
and delayed word recall task. Memory self-efficacy and other self-rating measures were not
found to influence immediate or delayed predictions. A repeated measure ANOVA revealed
that older adults improved in absolute accuracy from immediate to delayed prediction
whereas younger adults became less accurate. The results suggest that all metamemory skills
do not deteriorate with age, as the older adults were capable of monitoring their memory
accurately based on previous performance. Furthermore, Naveh- Benjamine, Cowan, Kilb
and Chen (2007) found that significantly affect serial recall.

According to Kaushanskaya, Marian and Yoo (2010), Individual differences in
language acquisition are pervasive and apparent. Some children acquire language faster than
others, and some adults acquire a second language with greater alacrity than others. Both
biological and social factors, as well as interactions between the two, have been considered
as mechanisms underlying individual differences in language acquisition. One biological
factor in language development appears to be gender. From a very early age, girls tend to
outpace boys in their language development, demonstrating a larger vocabulary as early as at
16 months of age (Bauer, Goldfield, & Beznick, 2002). The presence of gender differences
on linguistic tasks suggests that the mechanisms of language acquisition may be somewhat
distinct for males and females. The goal of the present work was to examine gender
differences and their underlying mechanisms on one specific linguistic task — novel word
learning. Therefore, there is an urgent need to investigate the effects of delay on recall among
Makir Zakpe college students in Makurdi metropolis, Benue state. It was therefore
hypothesized that:

i. There will be a significant difference between controlled, immediate feedback and
delayed feedback on recall among Makir Zakpe College students in Makurdi metropolis.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 4

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

ii. There will be significant sex difference on recall among Makir Zakpe College
students in Makurdi metropolis.

iii. There will be a significant age difference on recall among Makir Zakpe College
students in Makurdi metropolis.

iv. There will be significant interaction effects of nature of feedback, age and sex on
recall among Makir Zakpe College students in Makurdi metropolis.

Methodology

The study adopts a between subject factorial design to investigate the effect of delay
on recall among Makir Zakpe College students in Makurdi metropolis, Nigeria. The
participants for this study were 30 students sampled from three classes through simple
random sampling technique. Data collected showed that 15(50%) were male while 15(50%)
were female students within the age range of 12-18years with the mean age of 14.5667
(SD=1.67504). 10(33.3%) of the students were in JSS1, 10(33.3%) in JSS2, and 10(33.3%)
were in JSS3, 28(93.3%) were Christians and 2(6.7%) were Islam, 24(80%) were Tiv,
2(6.7%) were Idoma, 3(10.0%) were Igede, and 1(3.3%) were Hausa. 5(16.7%) were low
income earners, 22(73.3%) were medium income earners and 3(10.0%) were high income
earners. They were assigned into two experimental conditions and one control group. All the
participants started and completed the study. It was their first time of participating in an
experiment in psychology and they all volunteered to participate in the study.

In order to collect data for the study, the researchers made use of a multiple choice
questions and answer booklet comprising of three sections, 10 questions from each section,
totaling to 30 questions. These questions were derived from the lessons the researchers taught
the students previously. The Recall Assessment Test (RAT) was developed by the
researchers as an instrument for measuring recall. Also, a stop watch was used for timing of
the students in the recall process. The participants were contacted in their various classes.
Permission to collect data was sought and obtained from the head teacher.

The participants were split into one control and two experimental groups through the
simple random sampling technique by writing ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’ on the paper and then cut
into pieces of papers folded to conceal the alphabet each of the papers bore. Thus all the
participants who picked the letter A belonged to the control group, while B and C belonged
to the two experimental groups respectively. Students were then contacted in their classes, 10
students each from JSS1-3, comprising of 5 males and 5 females for each class. 10
Participants (5 males and 5 females) each were for delayed feedback, immediate feedback
and control group. 20 students were given a lesson from 8:00am to 9:00am, that is, those for
immediate and delayed feedback, after the lesson, 10 students (5 males and 5 females) for
delayed learning left the class and the 10 that did not receive the lesson (control group) came
back and took the test alongside students in the immediate feedback. The test lasted for one
hour under strict supervision. After the experiment, the participants were debriefed on what
happened. Afterwards, the researchers retrieved the question papers from them on the spot
and were therefore considered for analysis.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 5

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

Data Analysis

Data were analyzed using Univariate analysis of variance to establish the main and
interaction effects of nature of feedback, sex and age on memory recall. Also, descriptive
statistics such as mean, standard deviation and percentages were used in the study.

Results
Hypothesis 1: There will be a significant difference between controlled, immediate feedback
and delayed feedback on recall among students of Makir Zakpe College. This was tested
using Univariate analysis and the result is presented in Table 1 and 2 below.

Table 1: Univariate analysis showing main and interaction effects for nature of

feedback, sex and age on memory recall

Source Type III Sum Df Mean F Sig. Partial Eta

of Squares Square Squared

Corrected Model 12927.933a 10 1292.793 4.893 .001 .720

Intercept 74458.634 1 74458.634 281.842 .000 .937

Nature of feedback 7351.843 2 3675.922 13.914 .000 .594

Sex 1663.602 1 1663.602 6.297 .021 .249

Age 766.903 1 766.903 2.903 .105 .133
Nature of feedback * Sex 554.378 2 277.189 1.049 .370 .099

Nature of feedback * Age 967.483 2 483.742 1.831 .187 .162
1 307.200 1.163 .294 .058
Sex * Age 307.200

Nature of feedback * Sex * 8.533 1 8.533 .032 .859 .002

Age

Error 5019.533 19 264.186

Total 102642.000 30

Corrected Total 17947.467 29

Table 2: Tukey post hoc test showing multiple comparisons for the nature of feedback

(I) Nature of (J) Nature Mean Difference Std. Sig. 95% Confidence Interval

delay of delay (I-J) Error Lower Bound Upper Bound

Immediate -39.4000* 7.26892 .000 -57.8663 -20.9337

Controlled feedback 7.26892 .000 -54.4663 -17.5337
Delayed -36.0000*

Immediate feedback 39.4000* 7.26892 .000 20.9337 57.8663
feedback Controlled 3.4000 7.26892 .887 -15.0663 21.8663
Delayed
Delayed feedback 36.0000* 7.26892 .000 17.5337 54.4663
feedback Controlled -3.4000 7.26892 .887 -21.8663 15.0663

Immediate
feedback

*. The mean difference is significant at the .05 level

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 6

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

The result presented in table 1 showed that there was a significant effect of nature of
feedback on recall F (2,29)=13.914, p<.01. The result further showed that nature of feedback
had a significantly high effect of 59.4% (Partial Eta Square=.594) on recall. The result of
Post Hoc test presented in Table 2 however showed that the control group significantly
differed from immediate feedback (Mean difference=-39.40) and delayed feedback (Mean
difference=-36.00) respectively, while immediate feedback did not significantly differ from
delayed feedback (Mean difference=3.00) and delayed feedback did not significantly differ
from immediate feedback (Mean difference=-3.40) respectively. Based on this finding,
hypothesis one was confirmed.

Null Hypothesis 2: This hypothesis stated that there will be a significant sex difference on
recall among Makir Zakpe college students in Makurdi metropolis. The result presented in
Table 1 showed that there was a significant sex difference on recall among Makir Zakpe
college students in Makurdi metropolis F(1,29)=6.297, p<.05. Based on this result,
hypothesis two was confirmed.

Null Hypothesis 3: This hypothesis stated that there will be a significant age difference on
recall among Makir Zakpe College students in Makurdi Metropolis. This hypothesis was
tested using a univariate analysis of variance and the result is presented in Table 1. The result
showed that there was no significant age difference on recallamong Makir Zakpe College
students in Makurdi Metropoli. F (1, 29)= 2.903, p>.05. Based on this result, hypothesis three
was not confirmed.

Null Hypothesis 4: This hypothesis stated that there will be a significant interaction effect of
nature of feedback, sex and age on recall among Makir Zakpe College students in Makurdi
Metropolis. The result presented in Table 1 showed that there was no significant interaction
effect of nature of feedback, sex and age on recall among Makir Zakpe College students
F(1,29)=.032, p>.05. This result clearly showed that the three joint factors had lowest-effect
size of 0.2% (Exa squared = .002) on recall. Based on this finding, hypothesis four was not
confirmed

Discussion of Findings

Null Hypothesis one was tested to find out if there will be a significant difference
between controlled, immediate feedback and delayed feedback on recall among Makir Zakpe
college students in Makurdi metropolis. This hypothesis was therefore confirmed. This result
showed that there was a significant effect of nature of feedback on recall. This finding agreed
with that of Manzanero, El-Astal and Aroztegui (2009), who conducted an experiment to test
the effect of both retention (immediate vs. delayed one week) and implication degree (neutral
vs. involved perspectives) over accuracy and quality of a complex event memory. 56 subjects
witnessed a traffic accident adopting the role of either an observer or one of the actors
involved in the accident. Subsequently they were asked to describe what happened either
immediately or a week later. Several variables on recall were measured. All statistically
significant variables were globally analysed through High Dimensional Visualization (HDV).
The results show that from the perspective of codification and taking into consideration the
different degrees of involvement, the accuracy of the statements affects only in the
immediate recovery since the subjects who encode the incident from the perspective of one
of the players involved in the accident appear to ignore the less relevant information from
their own perspective providing more specific and organized statements, although also more

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 7

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

emotional and autobiographical and with most self-references and personal comments. The
HDV graph representing all significant variables shows a clear distinction of memories due
to Subjects perspective.

Again, this finding agreed with that of Guzman-Munoz and Johnson (2007) who
found a significant difference between delayed feedback and immediate feedback on recall.
They showed that in learning geographical representations, delayed feedback which entailed
seeing an entire map, including the relations among to-be-learned places— resulted in a more
laborious acquisition but better eventual retention than did immediate feedback on a test of
the location of individual places. Although, as noticed by this researchers, their results,
however, might have been obtained not because of the delayed feedback per se, but rather,
because the configural information which was helpful to performance in this task were more
salient in the delayed than in the immediate feedback case.

However, this finding goes contrary to that of La Rooy, Pipe and Murray (2007) who
examined the effects of context reinstatement as means of enhancing 5- and 6-year-old
children’s event memory in repeated interviews after a 6-month delay. Children were
interviewed immediately after the event (baseline interview) and twice at a 6-month delay,
with 24 hours between interviews. There was no increase in recall across the first and second
6-month interviews in any condition.

Null Hypothesis two stated that there will be a significant sex difference on recall
among Makir Zakpe College students in Makurdi metropolis. Again, this hypothesis proved
to be significant. This finding goes along with that of Jackson and Rushton (2006) who found
a significant sex difference on recall. Again, this finding agree with that of Raj,
Dharmangadan and Subramony (2007) who investigated whether recall of visually and
auditorily presented meaningful and non-meaningful materials are dependent on the levels of
hemispheric dominance and preferred modality. Using materials such as test of hemispheric
dominance and serial modality preference instrument, the researchers presented list of
trigrams to 60 males and female adolescents. Result showed gender differences in recall of
visually presented words and an interaction effect in recall of visually presented triagrams.

Null Hypothesis three was tested to find out if there will be a significant age
difference on recall among Makir Zakpe college students in Makurdi metropolis. This
hypothesis was therefore rejected. This result showed that, there was no significant difference
between younger and older students on recall. This finding supports that of Trujillo (2010)
who examined the age differences in a sample of 59 older adults (M = 76.83 years old, SD =
8.28) and 51 younger adults (M = 21.19 years old, SD = 3.22) on performance predictions for
both an immediate and delayed word recall task. Memory self-efficacy and other self-rating
measures were not found to influence immediate or delayed predictions. A repeated measure
ANOVA revealed that older adults improved in absolute accuracy from immediate to delayed
prediction whereas younger adults became less accurate. The result suggest that all
metamemory skills do not deteriorate with age, as the older adults were capable of
monitoring their memory accurately based on previous performance.

The forth Null hypothesis stated that there will be a significant interaction effect of
nature of feedback, sex, and age on recall among Makir Zakpe college students in Makurdi
metropolis. This hypothesis was not confirmed as there was no interaction effect of nature of
feedback, sex, and age on recall. This finding agreed with Ryan, Kreiner and Tree (2008)
who reported that the effects of gender on verbal learning tasks become non-significant once

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 8

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

age and education levels are taken into account. This finding implied that, the interaction of
nature of feedback, sex and age have less or nothing to do with recall among secondary
school students, other factors needs to be taken into consideration.

Conclusion

Based on the findings of the experiment, it was therefore concluded that nature of
feedback significantly had an effect on recall among Makir Zakpe College students. Similary,
there was a significant difference between male and female students on recall among Makir
Zakpe college students. However, no significant age difference was observed on recall
among the students. Finally, there was no significant interaction effect of nature of feedback,
sex and age on recall among Makir Zakpe college students. Despite the contributions this
study might have made, it has some fundamental shortcomings that may tend to undermine
its generalization. In first instance, some respondents were reluctant and unwilling to
participate, as it was not part of their curriculum. More so, due to logistic problems, the study
was constrained to cover only Makir Zakpe College in Makurdi metropolis.

Students’ lukewarm attitude during the time the lesson was given was also a major
problem, for they saw the researchers as a different people from their teachers so they used
those words to communicate and make fun among themselves since it was unfamiliar to them
also, the individual difference in the ability of information processing, storage and retrieval
was not accounted for as the students do not have the same intelligent quotient.

Recommendations

It was therefore recommended that, since nature of feedback has a significant effect
on recall, teachers should avoid giving tests that involve long delays in other to enhance
better performance among students. Also, since there exists a significant sex difference on
recall, teachers should ensure that tests that males could recall easily should be separated
from those they cannot and vice versa to avoid bias. Furthermore, a field experiment is
needed to observe the effect as well as the effects of delay on recall to ascertain its validity.
However, it will be important to use brain scan during the study to ascertain the level of
information processing. Finally, time of the day should be considered in subsequent studies
for more facts about the effect time might have on recall.

References

Bauer D. J, Goldfield B.A &Reznik J.S (2002). Alternative approaches to analyzing
individual differences in the rate of early vocabulary acquisition. Applied
psycholinguistics.23:313-335

Bjork, R. A., & Linn, M. C. (2006). The science of learning and the learning of science:
Introducing desirable difficulties. APS Observer, 19-29.

Butler, A. C., & Roediger, H. L.,(2008). Feedback enhances the positive effects and reduces
the negative effects of multiple-choice testing. Memory & Cognition, 36, 604-616.

Butler, A. C., Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L., III (2008).Correcting a metacognitive error:
Feedback enhances retention of low confidence correct responses.Journal of
Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 34, 918-928.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 9

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

Butler, A. C., Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L.,(2007). The effect of type and timing of
feedback on learning from multiple-choice tests.Journal of Experimental Psychology:
Applied, 13, 273-281.

Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in
verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132,
354-380.

Guzman-Muñoz, F. J., & Johnson, A. (2007).Error feedback and the acquisition of
geographical representations. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22, 979-995.

Jackson , D.N, Rushton P. (2006). Males have greater g: Sex differences in general mental
ability from 100,000 17- to 18-year-olds on the Scholastic Achievement Test.
Intelligence. 34:479–486.

Kaushanskaya M. marian V. and Yoo J. (2010). Gender difference in adult word
learning.online publishers.

La Rooy D. Pipe M. and Murray J.E (2007). Enhancing children’s recall after long
delays.Applied cognitive psychology, wileyinterscience 21, 1-7.

La Rooy, D., Pipe, M.-E., & Murray, J. E. (2005). Reminiscence and hypermnesia in
children’s eyewitness memory.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 90, 235–
254.

Manzenero A.L, El-Astal S. Aroztegui J. (2009). Implication degree and delay of events: an
experimental and HDV study. European journal of psychology applied to legal
context , 1(2): 183-203.

Mefoh, P. C. (2006). Effects of levels of processing, context and gender differences in recall
memory. Nigerian Journal of Psychological Research, 5,20-27.

Naine, J.S. (2009). Psychology (5th ed.). Australia: Thomson Wadsworth.

Naveh-Benjamine, M., Cowan, N., Kilb, A., & Chen, Z. (2007). Age-related differences in
immediate serial recall: Dissociating Chunk formation capacity, Memory and
Cognition, 35(4), 724-737.

Peterson, C., Moores, L., & White, G. (2001).Recounting the same events again and again:
Children’s consistency across multiple interviews.Applied Cognitive Psychology, 15,
353–371.

Ryan JJ, Kreiner DS, Tree HA. (2008). Gender differences on WAIS-III incidental learning,
pairing, and free recall.Applied Neuropsychology. 15:117–122.

Trujilo, A. (2010). Age difference in word recall predictions. Thesis, Georgia state
university.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 10

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

Three Dimensional (3D) Geometry and Visualising Power of the Learner:
A Challenge to Mathematics Instruction

Bassey, Ubong Effiong

Directorate of Pre-Degree
University of Uyo, Uyo Nigeria
email: [email protected]

+2348064658860
&

Okoro, Sunday Nyeche

Department of Educational Technology
and Library Science, University of Uyo,

Uyo Nigeria
email: [email protected]

+2348038700758

Abstract

The study sought to examine ‘the three Dimensional Geometry, the Visualizing power to the
Learner: a challenge to Mathematics Instruction’. 3D was considered as a Solid Geometry
and critically examined with various examples. Visualization was viewed as a Verb and a
Noun. The latter directs our attention to the product, the object and the visual images while
the former focused on the process, the activity, the skill and the how of visualizing. Five
explicit definitions of visualization were established and it led to a three- fold distinction
between Visualization objects, Introspective Visualization and Interpretive Visualization.
Visualization objects deals with the physical objects that are viewed, Introspective
Visualization concerned with the mental objects that a person makes or an imaginative
construction of some possible visual experience while Interpretive Visualization deals with
an act of making meaning from Visualization objects and Introspective Visualization. The
paper also looked at colour, relevance and interactivity as the essential elements that
constitute a good Visualization. Based on the findings of this study, it was noted that
student’s prior knowledge and their reasoning skills of geometric objects stand to be a major
problem. Therefore, the article conclude by recommending that teachers should use
visualization objects that have been carefully selected to the level-appropriate for the
Learners and preparatory work with Learners before they begin the visualization activities to
ascertain learners prior knowledge.

Keyword: Three Dimensional (3D) Geometry, Visualiing Power, Mathematics Instruction

Introduction
Visualization plays a vital role in every living organism. Jain, (2004) There is famous

Chinese proverb “one sighted is worth, a hundred words” it is fact that we take knowledge
through our intellects. So it means that use of visual aids make teaching learning process
more effective. As Kishore (2003) said “visual aids stimulated thinking and cognize.” The
use of visual aids in teaching learning process has multifarious values (Mohanty, 2001).
Visualization objects plausibly can be used to assist in the interpretation of mathematical
problems, to show how quantities change over time, and to show relationships between one

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 11

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

mathematical concept and another related one. Some of the most familiar mathematics
diagrams are used in the study of geometry. The geometrical diagram is an unusual thing in
that it is not an abstraction of an experienced object.

Rather, it is an attempt to take an abstract concept and make it concrete. In Fig. 1 a
geometrical diagram shows a cube. What exactly is this picture depicting? It is standard
practice in geometry to insist that a diagram such as Fig.1 represent any particular3-
dimensional geometry. It represents a cube that could satisfy the conditions set out in a given
argument or problem. Cube in fig. 1 is intended to be a generic representation of any
conceivable solid plane shape: the relative side height could be different from what appears
on the page, the width and depth could be different from what is shown, and so on. The
usefulness of this visual in geometry is to indicate to students that a cube and a line through
one vertex could be said to exist, but that whatever will be discussed about the cube and line
will be only a small part of the relevant information captured in the diagram. Students must
be taught to recognize which features of a diagram such as Fig. 1 are particular to the
diagram. It would be incorrect, for example, for a student to place a protractor on the diagram
and claim to know the angle measure of every cube with a line passing through vertex. A
second common use of visualization in school mathematics is in the drawing and
interpretation of graphs. Students have been sketching graphs since. A simple 3D graph is a
geometrical representation of the relationship between three variables. Figure2 pg4 depicts a
graph of the function y = ℝ3. Students typically are expected to understand that the
polynomial formula y = ℝ3 and its graph encode the same mathematical information; the
symbolic form and the graphical form both represent the function. The function, presumably,
has an existence independently of either the formula orgraph because both are said to be
representative of it. The curriculum-makers, then, have to make some important decisions
about what is being studied. Are students to learn the properties of the function only? , with

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 12

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

the formula and graph a learning aids? Or are students to learn the properties of the
polynomial formula or of the graph, each of which presents interesting mathematical
properties in its own way. Does the availability of graphing software have an effect on this
choice? It seems likely that the ease of creating visualizations in mathematics has led to an
increased value for the study of 3D graph properties in recent years. This conclusion is
supported within the most recent principles and standards for school mathematics documents
from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 2000)

Fig. 2: The graph of y= R2

The examples of geometry and graphing highlight a difficulty in assessing the impact
of visualizations in education: sometimes comparisons are difficult because visualization can
bring new activities and new values into educational practice and assessment. If a teacher
wishes to assess students’ understanding of the function y = x3, the examination’s and the
students’ choices of representation may shape the response in unpredictable ways. Does
analysis of the graph, for example, show understanding of the function itself or does it show
understanding of the visual artifact? This distinction may not always be simple to make.

However, this discussion seeks to consider the following: 3D geometry, perimeter of
a cube as a solid geometry, the definition of Visualization, what constitutes a good
Visualization, Visualization and Mathematics, a challenge to Mathematic Instruction and
lastly, conclusion and recommendations.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 13

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

Three Dimensional Geometry

The word GEOMETRY is derived from two Greek words GEO meaning earth or land
and METRON meaning measurement. When these two words are combined, a compound
word Geometron is form, which means measurement of the land or earth. Generally,
Geometry is a branch of Mathematics that concerned with questions of shape, size, relative
position of figures, and the properties of space. A mathematician who works in the field of
geometry is called a geometer. Geometry arose independently in a number of early cultures
as a body of practical knowledge concerning lengths, areas, and volumes, with elements of
formal mathematical science.

A three-dimensional geometry is any object with height, width and depth. The term
"three-dimensional" is in reference to those three measurements as shown in fig. 1 above. A
solid geometry is another term for a three-dimensional geometry. In the physical world, most
objects, such as chairs, desks, trees and people, are three-dimensional. Even paper, which
seems like it has only two dimensions, is actually three-dimensional, for it has a very small
depth. In geometry, examples of three-dimensional objects include spheres, cylinders, cones,
cubes and pyramids. These solid objects are plotted on a coordinate system with three axes:
the x-axis, the y-axis and the z-axis. Two-dimensional objects, such as squares and circles,
are plotted on a two axis system with only an x-axis and a y-axis. For the purposes of this
article fig. 3 shows common examples of three dimensional geometry.

Fig. 3: Common examples of three dimensional Geometry

How to measure the Perimeter of a Cube as Illustrated Above?
The perimeter of an object is the measurement of the sides of the object. Measuring

the perimeter of a square or rectangle is easy, but measuring the perimeter of a cube is
slightly more difficult. With a simple measurement, they can quickly calculate the perimeter
of a cube. Measure the length of one edge of the cube. Each edge of a cube is the same
length. Count the number of edges of the cube. Every cube has 12 edges. Multiply the

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 14

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

number of edges by the length of the edge to find the perimeter. For example, if the edge

length of a cube is 0.2540m then 0.2540m multiplied by 12 edges equals 3.048m.

The Power of Visualization of 3D
In an attempt to define “visualization”, we found that many terms—including

visualization, visual aid, image, and visual literacy are used frequently and interchangeably

throughout the literature. We decided to seek the power of visualization as commonly
expressed by the Chinese proverb “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I
understand.” Table 1 do little to clarify what “visualization” means in the context of

education or educational research, they are provided to illustrate the need for explicit clarity

in the conduct of research.

________________________________________

The 5 explicit definitions starting with Paivio’sand end with Bishop are shown in Table 1. I
have included definitions of related terms, such as “imagery” and “visual aid”, in this total.
Table 2Explicit definitions of “visualization” in chronological order provided in research

literature

________________________________________

Year Author(s) Explicit definition

________________________________________
1974 Paivio “. ..the conception of imagery as a dynamic symbolic system capable of

organizing and transformed perceptual information that we receive” (p. 6).
1982 Hortin “visual literacy is the ability to understand and use images and to

think and learn in terms of images, i.e., to think visually” (p. 262)
1983 Nelson “Visualization is an effective technique for determining just what a problem

is asking you to find. If you can picture in your mind’s eye what facts are present and
which are missing, it is easier to decide what steps to take to find the missing facts”

(p. 54)
1989 Ben-Chaim, Lappan, & Houang “Visualization is a central component of many

processes for making transitions from the concrete to the abstract modes of thinking.

It is a tool to represent mathematical ideas and information, and it is used extensively
in the middle grades” (p. 50)
1989 Bishop “Visual processing ability was defined as follows: ‘Thisability involves

visualization and the translation of abstract relationships and non-figural information

into visual terms. It also includes the manipulation and transformation of visual

representations and visual imagery. It is an ability of process and does not relate to
the form of the stimulus material presented’ (Bishop,
1983)” (p. 11)

________________________________________

The definitions and statements in Table 2 point to a three-fold distinction between
physical objects serving as visualizations (geometrical illustrations, animation, computer-
generated displays, picture-like representations); mental objects pictured in the mind (mental
scheme, mental imagery, mental construction, mental representation); and cognitive
processing in which visualizations, either physical or mental, are interpreted (cognitive
functions in visual perception, manipulation and transformation of visual representations (by
the mind), concrete to abstract modes of thinking, and picturing facts). The three distinctions
follow:

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 15

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

1. Visualization Objects is concerned with generating interactive, visual representations of
information spaces to amplify users’ cognition Card, Mackinlay & Shneiderman, (1999).
These are physical objects that are viewed and interpreted by a person for the purpose of
understanding something other than the object itself. These objects can be pictures, 3D
representations, schematic representations, animations, etc. Other sensory data such as
sound can be integral parts of these objects and the objects may appear on many media
such as paper, computer screens, and slides.

2. Introspective Visualization. These are mental objects that a person makes that are believed
to be similar to visualization objects. Introspective visualization is an imaginative
construction of some possible visual experience.

3. Interpretive Visualization. This is an act of making meaning from a visualization object or
an introspective visualization by interpreting information from the objects or
introspections and by cognitively placing the interpretation within the person’s existing
network of beliefs, experiences, and understanding. We have chosen these terms not
because they are common in the literature—they are not—but because they are useful for
capturing most of the important distinctions that are represented in Tables 1and 2. The
distinction between physical visualization objects and mental introspective visualization
is an obvious one; most writers at least make this clear through context. The distinction
between the visualization itself whether physical or mental and the thinking involved in
interpreting that visualization is also important.

A Good Visualization
Insofar as visualization involves the interpretation of pictures, it seems a suitable

theory of picture meaning is required to know whether or not a visualization is a good one. If
pictures are to be used to assist or enable certain types of learning, then some idea of how
information is encoded in pictures is likely to be useful. After all, visualization plays a
central role in the cognitive processes scientists and mathematicians engage (Gilbert, 2005).
Unfortunately, if a comprehensive theory of pictures and picture meaning is not currently
available, then research on visualization must proceed based on intuitions about picture
usefulness rather than on informed judgment.

Thinking intuitively, what must a student do to use a visualization object? It seems
clear that even a trivial interpretation of visualization objects requires that the student utilize
attributional and inferential strategies. This is so because, in the absence of human cognitive
engagement, visualization objects are merely sources of optical data. The person viewing the
image must have at least some repertoire of experiences, mental skills, and volitions even to
begin the process of interpretation. Some cognitive action must be made to move from what
is on the page (or screen, etc.) to some internalized conception of what it represents before
interpretation, manipulation, or prediction can occur. The failure to recognize the processes
of mediation between what is visualized in the mind’s eye and the visualization object itself
involves much more than just the confusion of the object and what it stands for (Presmeg,
1999). The use of visualizations in any mode or style involves not only an awareness of the
properties of the object itself, but also a familiarity with the forms of symbolization that
appear in the object as proxies for reality. From the empirical studies examined in this
review, five characteristics emerged as important features of visualizations: colour, realism,
relevance, and level of interactivity. We examine them one by one.

Colour
Understanding the role of color and contrast in terms of its effect on cognitive

processing is emergent. According to Roberts (2009), “even though the use of color in the

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 16

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

production of instructional materials is widespread, its relative effectiveness as an aid in
improving student achievement still remains inconclusive…. Hall and Hannah (2004)
reported the effect of color on retention as well as readability: lower contrast combinations
such as light blue on dark blue provided a small, but measurable positive effect on retention.
In 1960, Amsden extended the studies on the impact of colour. She examined the amount,
value, and kind of colour 60 children, aged 3–5 years, preferred in illustrations.

To determine the amount of colour preferred, she provided a black and white line
drawing, one with one colour, one with two colours, one with three colours, and a drawing
with four colours, which she said represented the most realistic of them all. To determine the
value of colour, she provided drawings with lighter and darker shades. To determine
preference, she provided a black and white photograph as well as a line drawing. And lastly,
to determine the style of drawing, she provided a realistic drawing and a fanciful drawing.
Amsden found that illustrations with more colours were significantly more preferred to those
with fewer colours, but when a black and white photograph was compared to a line drawing
with one colour there was no significant difference in the children’s preferences. In his
studies in the 1960s and 1970s, Dwyer asked, among other things, if colour was an important
variable in facilitating university undergraduate student achievement. Based on his studies
comparing illustrations of the human heart, he concluded that colour was important in visuals
but only with reference to certain instructional objectives, such as those focused on realistic
features of objects, those requiring identification of parts of a diagram, and those focused on
overall concept understanding (1970, 1971).

Realism
Francis Dwyer carried out numerous studies focusing on realistic detail in

illustrations. His 1967 study examined how 108 university undergraduates interpreted
information about geometry when it was presented in various ways: orally with no
accompanying illustrations but with text naming parts of the solid geometry projected on a
screen; orally and with abstract linear representations of parts of the solid geometry orally
and with more detailed, shaded drawings representing parts of the solid geometry; and orally
with realistic photographs of the parts of the solid geometry. Dwyer found that areduction in
realism did not necessarily reduce the instructional effectiveness, and sometimes even
improved it. He also noted that there were different levels of effectiveness with the different
types of instruction for different educational objectives.

Dwyer followed his 1967 study with a similar study in 1968, which again examined
levels of realistic detail required for educational objectives related to teaching undergraduate
students about the solid geometry. The same presentation sequence was followed in 1968 as
in the 1967 study, with five groups of students hearing and viewing information in the same
five conditions. After listening to the presentation sequences, the 269 students were given
four post-tests with questions on identification of parts of the solid geometry and terminology
coupled with the requirement to draw a diagram of the solid geometry. Scores for each of
these four tests were combined and a total composite score was determined. Dwyer found
that the oral presentation of information complemented by printed text without pictures was
the most effective condition for learning the identification of parts of the solid geometry and
terminology. Students in this control group (oral with printed text only) also had the highest
composite scores compared to all of the treatment groups. However, students who had
viewed abstract line or shaded diagrams during the oral presentation scored better than the
control group on drawing a diagram of the solid geometry. Dwyer concluded that the realistic
details in certain illustrations were distracting students from the important information in the
text, and that students took too long to study and comprehend the information in the diagram.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 17

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

This suggests that it is very important that the designers and implementers of visualization
objects and activities pay close attention to the structure of the objects and be careful not to
include unneeded detail.

Relevance
Healy and Hoyles’ (1999) study examined how 20 students aged 12 and 13 years used

visual reasoning in mathematical activities. They used computer integrated tasks and
computer-aided tasks to document the influence of computer use on patterns of reasoning and
found that computer work needed to be carefully planned so that it would be relevant and
transferable to the curriculum. They maintained that improving visual and symbolic
reasoning in mathematics through using computers required a strong and precise connection
between reasoning and the tasks on computers.

Vekiri (2002) has cautioned against assuming that graphic displays in and of
themselves can enhance learning. To be effective, visual representations must first be well
designed: for example, she argued that Gestalt principles of perceptual organization such as
connectedness and proximity should be employed. In addition, if it is to enhance learning,
then a visualization object must effectively communicate information to a viewer. This
means that what the learner brings to the task is extremely important. That is, the viewer’s
background knowledge and interpretive ability and skills play a major role in determining the
teaching effectiveness of any visualization.

So, while it appears to be widely accepted that visualization objects can support
communication, thinking, and learning, Schnotz (2002) also cautioned that this is true “only
if they interact appropriately with the individual’s cognitive system” (p. 113). That is, the
strategies a learner has developed for visualizing are essential, as is the individual’s prior
content knowledge, cognitive abilities, and learning skills. Furthermore, Schnotz emphasized
that effective learning from graphics is also dependent on the instructional design of the
visuospatial text, listing many ofthe same design characteristics and justifications that Vekiri
(2002) had.

Interactivity
Researchers of computer animations as visualization objects have noted that the high level of
interactivity between object and learner appears to facilitate greater levels of interpretive
visualization than do other types of visualization objects. Milheim (1993) discussed previous
research on the use and effectiveness of animation in instruction and summarized it into
guidelines and suggestions for implementing animation. He stated that animation in
computer-based instruction is uniquely beneficial because the learner can control and
manipulate parts of the presentation, can test hypotheses, and can witness consequences
through programme feedback.

Bennett and Dwyer (1994) stressed the same point when they said that “interactive
visuals [in this case, drawing lines to emphasize shape and location of critical information of
the question] which allow the learner to take an active role in the learning process can
influence the learner’s ability to select, acquire, construct and integrate concepts” (p. 23).
Their study tested 178 college-level students’ abilities to read text and to refer to visuals to
reinforce information. Students participated in the instructional presentation and immediately
afterwards had a drawing test that evaluated their ability to construct and reproduce items
from the presentation. They also completed an identification test, a terminology test, and a
comprehension test. Bennett and Dwyer found that interactive visual strategies were effective
in facilitating student achievement, but that students need an explanation of how the
interactive strategy is going to help achieve the specific learning objective in order to help

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 18

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

them organize the information for acquisition and retrieval. In their review of previous
research, Scaife and Rogers (1996) stated that “virtual reality and visualization, as means of

representing and interacting with information, are very much at the forefront of technological
development” (p. 3).

They found that being immersed in the experience of a visual aid is a major

motivating factor for learning and that animated diagrams were more effective at facilitating

cognitive tasks than static, non-interactive graphics (p. 3). Taking interaction with
visualization further is LaViola Jr.’s (2007) Tablet PC-based application, MathPad2. (Note
that the superscript “2” is an exponent, not a reference to a footnote.) LaViola Jr. explains the

work already done on MathPad2 as well as recent advances in the use of mathematical
sketching. He states that “an important goal of mathematical sketching is to facilitate

mathematical problem solving without imposing any interaction burden beyond those of
traditional media” (p. 38). In other words, LaViola Jr. has aimed to create a programme that

is better than pencil-and-paper drawings but not more cumbersome to use. The potential of
MathPad2 was affirmed in a preliminary evaluation when it was reported that “subjects

thought the application was a powerful tool that beginning physics and mathematics students
could use to help solve problems and better understand scientific concepts” (p. 8).

Visualizations and Mathematics
The question of whether visualizations help develop mathematical concepts has an

ambiguous, and oftentimes contradicting, response. articles reviewed focusing on

visualizations in mathematics classrooms, with the majority focused on algebra/geometry,

calculus followed by general mathematics (see Fig. 4). Two central issues arose: (1) a

theoretical issue over the function of visualization objects as mathematical entities and (2) a

practical issue over the effectiveness of visualization objects in learning and in doing

mathematics. Intermingled with the two issues are the goals of mathematics instruction,

which depending upon their formulation can emphasize or deemphasize the need for

visualization. Hershkowitz (1989) studied the role of visualization in the process of

geometrical concept attainment for middle school students, 142 pre-service elementary
teachers, and 25 in-service senior elementary teachers. She claimed that “an image of a
concept and its examples cannot be formed without visualizing its elements” (p. 61) and

stated further that visualization is complex and works in two opposing ways. First, we need

to visualize elements in order to form an image of a concept.

Second, a concept image may be narrowed by the visual elements. Hershkowitz (1989)

resented participants with a verbal definition of two contrived geometrical concepts
(“bitrian” and “biquad”) and then asked half the students and teachers to identify those

concepts from a set of shapes, while the other half were asked to draw the concepts. She

found that the majority of participants identified the simplest examples of each concept or

drew at least one example correctly. The results showed that despite the identical attributes in

the examples, certain examples were viewed differently by the participants, and these were
prototypes. Hershkowitz (1989) concludes that the prototypes create visual–perceptual

limitations, and that in turn can affect identification abilities for people of all ages and stages
of education. However, “individuals do not usually attain any example of the conceptunless
they have already attained the prototypical example” (p. 74).

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 19

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

Fig. 4 Percentage of mathematics – related articles by specific area.

Visualizations in Mathematics

90, 25% Algebra/Geometry
75, 21% 195, 54% Calculus
General Math

Challenge to Mathematics Instruction

The reasoning skills that students develop in their visualization process of
geometrical objects allow them to investigate geometric problems of increasing complexity
and to study geometric properties. As the students move from one class to another, students
develop clarity and precision in describing the properties of geometric objects and then
classifying them by these properties into categories such as rectangle, triangle, pyramid or
prism. Students can develop knowledge about how geometric shapes are related to one
another and begin to articulate geometric arguments about the properties of these shapes. The
students also should explore motion, location and orientation by, for example, creating paths
on a coordinate grid or defining a series of flips and turns to demonstrate that two shapes are
congruent. As students investigate geometric properties and relationships their work can be
closely connected with other mathematical topics, especially measurement of number.

The study of geometry requires thinking and doing. As students sort, build, draw,
model, trace, measure and construct, their capacity to visualize geometric relationships will
develop. At the same time they are learning to reason and to make, test, and justify
conjectures of tools, such as graph paper, rulers, pattern blocks, geoboards and geometric
solids and is greatly enhanced by electronic tools that support exploration such as dynamic
geometry software.

The first question facing the teacher is whether visualization activities are worth
doing. Of course, there is no general answer to this question, because considerations of which
activities with which students for which purposes have to be addressed first. Visualization is
divided into two categories: visualization for understanding and visualization for analysis.
Visualization for understanding requires that the visualization be done conjointly with
language rich instruction. The point of these activities is to allow students the opportunity to
encode the important information in more ways than one. When the visualization is intended
to assist student analysis by relieving the load on working memory, it is incumbent on the
teacher to make sure that the chosen objects and activities make that possible. A sketch of the
relevant information to solve a mathematics problem, for example, should be comprehensible
to the student and should show only the important features of the problem. It is essential that
students understand which features of the visualization object are fixed, which features are
variable, and which are irrelevant to the problem.

The research article noted that student prior knowledge and visuospatial ability are
crucial prerequisites for success in educational visualization. As Linn (2003) stated, it is not
sufficient for the visualization object to make sense to its creators. The expert who creates the

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 20

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

object has a much larger repertoire of skill and knowledge than the students who will use it.
Inferences about the users’ background knowledge must inform the basic structure and
operation of the visualization. Further, the student’s ability to make inferences based on the
visualization will be different from the teacher’s and the creator’s. It is not reasonable to
expect students to have powers similar to their teacher’s. These observations point to three
key challenges to

Mathematics Instruction:
1. Use visualization objects that have been carefully selected to be level-appropriate for the
Learners.
2. Do preparatory work with Learners before they begin the visualization activities.
3. Monitor and assess Learner visualization activities to ensure that (1) and (2) are satisfied.
There is reason for teachers also to encourage Learners to construct their own visual objects.
This is supported by Cifuentes and Hsieh (2003) who found that “student-generated visuals
surpass illustrations in their effectiveness for instruction because they are more personally
meaningful and relevant to Learners’ understandings and prior knowledge and because they
contribute to construction of meaning” (p. 264). It appears that the same cautions that we
made about teacher supplied visual objects also apply to Learner-generated drawings. Keep
the drawings relevant to the task at hand, be clear about expectations, and make sure that the
task is appropriate to the Learners’ background knowledge and skills.

Conclusion
The usefulness of visualizations is tied to the goals of mathematics instruction. If the

goal is analytic proficiency then it seems visualization may interfere with the learner(s)
understanding. As well, visualizations seem to work differently for more and less gifted
students and for older and younger students, although the trends appear unclear. The
usefulness of visualization in Mathematics seems to have much to do with a match between
the activity and the desired outcome. Visualization often involves using schematic or
symbolic diagrams as computational aids. In these cases, the visual objects tend to be simple
and direct. For conceptual understanding, richer objects in combination with verbal or textual
instruction offer the possibility of rich experiences for students. The verbal component seems
essential, because visualizations rarely can stand alone. This seems to be especially true in
mathematics education, where difficult-to-imagine objects can be depicted dynamically for
students to appreciate how these objects change over time. Finally, there appear to be
important concepts that cannot be visually clarified and great disputes over whether
visualizations have any place at all.

Recommendations
From the findings the following recommendations were drawn:
1. “Displays need to address the goal of the task”. It is crucial that teachers and students

visualization of object match the most important features of the Mathematics instruction.
A mismatch is likely to lead to confusion.
2. “Teachers should provide displays along with explanations and guidance”. Visualization
objects are not self-explanatory. The instruction must point to the relevance of the
visualization.
3. “Displays need to spatially and timely coordinated with text by the teacher. To avoid
inefficient or contradictory coding across modalities, the student needs to be able to put
the pieces together. Words and pictures should be close together and should be presented
at roughly the same time.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 21

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

4. Students’ prior knowledge affects their style and ability in interacting with displays. It is
crucial that the student have an appropriate repertoire from their teachers of previous
knowledge and skills in order to maximally match the coding.

5. Students’ visuospatial ability affects their ability to use the display. It is not just concepts
that matter, but students must also have the basic skills required from the teacher(s) to
understand how the object represents space and time.

References
Amsden, R. H. (1960). Children’s preferences in picture story book variables. Journal of

Educational Research, 53(8), 309–312.

Barwise, J., &Etchemendy, J. (1996).Visual information and valid reasoning. In G. Allwein&
J. Barwise (Eds.), Logical reasoning with diagrams (pp. 3–26). New York: Oxford
University Press.

Bennett, L. T., & Dwyer, F. M. (1994). The effect of varied visual interactive strategies in
facilitating student achievement of different educational objectives. International
Journal of Instructional Media, 21(1), 23–32.

Ben-Chaim, D., Lappan, G., & Houang, R. T. (1989).The role of visualization in the middle
school mathematics curriculum.Focus on Learning Problems in Mathematics, 11(1–
2), 49–60.

Bishop, A. J. (1989). Review of research on visualization in mathematics education. Focus
onLearning Problems in Mathematics, 11(1), 7–16.

Booth, R. D. L., & Thomas, M. O. J. (1999). Visualization in mathematics learning:
Arithmetic problem-solving and student difficulties. The Journal of Mathematical
behaviour , 18(2),169–190.

Card, S. K., Mackinlay, J. D., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Readings in Information
Visualization. San Francisco CA: Morgan Kaufmann.

Cifuentes, L., & Hsieh, Y. J. (2003). Visualization for construction of meaning during study
time:A quantitative analysis. International Journal of Instructional Media,
30(3), 263– 273.

Dwyer, F. M. (1967). Adapting visual illustrations for effective learning.Harvard
Educational Review, 37, 250–263.

Gilbert, J. K. (2005). Visualization: A metacognitive skill in science and science education.
In J. K. Gilbert (Ed.), Visualization in science education. Netherlands: Springer.

Hall, R. H., & Hanna, P. (2004). Web Text-Background Color. behaviour & Information
Technology, 23(3), 183–195. Retrieved from
http://lite.mst.edu/media/research/ctel/documents/LITE-2003- 04.pdf.

Healy, L., &Hoyles, C. (1999). Visual and symbolic reasoning in mathematics: Making
connections with computers? Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 1(1), 59–84

Hershkowitz, R. (1989). Visualization in geometry—two sides of the coin.Focus on Learning
Problems in Mathematics, 11(1), 61–76.

Hortin, J. A. (1982). A need for a theory of visual literacy.Reading Improvement, 19(4), 257–
267.

Jain,P..(2004); Educational Technology, Delhi Moujpur publication.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 22

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

Kishore. N.(2003); Educational technology, Abhishek publication.

LaViola, J. J., Jr. (2007). Advances in mathematical sketching: Moving toward the
paradigm’s full potential. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 27(1), 38–48

Levie, W. L., & Lentz, R. (1982). Effects of text illustrations: A review of research.
Educational Communication and Technology, 30(4), 195–232.

Linn, M. C. (2003). Technology and science education: Starting points, research programs,
and trends. International Journal of Science Education, 25(6), 727–758.

Milheim, W. D. (1993). How to use animation in computer assisted learning. British Journal
of Educational Technology, 24(3), 171–178.

Miller, W. (1936).The picture choices of primary-grade children.The Elementary School
Journal, 37, 273–282.

Mohanty, J (2001); Educational Technology, Publish by Rajouri garden New Delhi.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). (2000). Principles and standards for
school mathematics. Reston, VA: NCTM

Nelson, D. W. (1983). Math is not a problem. . . when you know how to visualize it.
Instructor, 93(4), 54–55.

Paivio, A. (1974). Language and knowledge of the world.Educational Researcher, 3(9), 5–
12.

Presmeg, N. C. (1999). On visualization and generalization in mathematics.In F. Hitt& M.
Santos (Eds.), Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of

the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (21st, Cuernavaca,
Morelos, Mexico, October 23–26, 1999, Vol. 1, pp. 23–27).

Roberts, W. E. (2009). The use of cues in multimedia instructions in technology as a way to
reduce cognitive load (Doctoral dissertation, North Carolina State University).
Retrieved from http://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/ir/bitstream/1840.16/4434/1/etd.pdf.

Scaife, M., & Rogers, Y. (1996). External cognition: How do graphical representations
work?

International Journal Human-Computer Studies, 45(2), 185–213.

Schnotz, W. (2002). Towards an integrated view of learning from text and visual displays.
Educational Psychology Review, 14(1), 101–120.

Swetz, F. (1995). To know and to teach: Mathematical pedagogy from a historical context.
Educational Studies in Mathematics, 29(1), 73–88.

Vekiri, I. (2002). What is the value of graphical displays in learning? Educational
Psychology Review, 14(3), 261–312.

Zettl, H. (1990). Sight sound motion: Applied media aesthetics. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 23

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

Towards Effective School Supervision for Quality Education in Nigeria: A
Challenge for Educational Administrators

Dr. Mohammed Umar Sanda

Department of Educational Foundations
Federal University, Dutsin-Ma
Katsina State

Abstract
It is an incontestable fact that Nigeria is among the countries in the world where education is
experiencing turbulence arising from persistent divergence between planned targets and
realized outcomes in the educational system. This cannot be unconnected with the way and
manner our schools are being supervised either at Federal, State or Local Government level.
Indeed, to realize the lofty goals and objectives of the Nigerian Education System as
enshrined in the National Policy on Education for quality education, an effective and
pragmatic supervision must be carried out in our schools. This paper therefore examines
tasks and tactics of pragmatic supervision of schools. The concept of supervision, the
purpose and history of supervision in Nigeria were discussed. Modern supervision, models of
supervision and the role of school administrators in educational supervision were equally
brought to the fore and discussed accordingly.

Keywords: Supervision, Quality Education, Model of Supervision, educational
Administrator

Introduction

The importance of supervision in Nigerian Education System cannot be
overemphasized. The National Policy on Education (2004) attaches great importance to
efficient, capable and highly enlightened supervisory and inspectorate cadre of professionals
in the country’s educational system. This is evident where it states that “Government has
established and will continue to run good and well-staffed inspectorate services for all levels
of education” (NPE 2004:59-60). Quality Control, according to the policy, can be ensured
through regular inspection and continuous supervision of instructional and educational
services. In view of this, the need for effective supervision by school administrators at all
levels of the educational system to help teachers identify their weaknesses, design activities
and programmes to strengthen them must be emphasized. This is with a view to boosting the
educational system for the politico socio-economic development of the country in particular
and the world in general.

The Concept of Supervision

In the words of Burton and Brueckner (2011), the Chief function of modern
supervision is the evaluation and improvement of factors affecting learning. From the
foregoing, supervision could be regarded as the process of directing, guiding, helping,
advising and stimulating growth in the individual in order to improve the quality and quantity
of his work. Thus, supervision could be viewed as that aspect of the administrative process

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 24

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

which helps to stimulate or awaken the dormant potentials in individuals with a view to
improving their output or productivity. In short, supervision, according to them, is the service
provided for the purpose of improving teaching and learning.

Indeed, supervision is the aspect of school management concerned with the
improvement of teaching and learning. Arthus, & James, (2000) defined supervision as that
aspect of educational management which has to do with providing assistance in the
development of better teaching learning situation. Wiles (2004) sees supervision as the
process involving the release of human potential that makes available a more competent staff
to conduct the human interaction that is called education. According to Harris (2007),
supervision is directed towards both maintaining and improving the teaching-learning
processes of the school.

From the above definition, Ezeocha (2007) posits that the concept could be seen as
cooperative service designed to aid both the teachers and the learners, and not a reporting
process concerned with evaluation of personnel without too much consideration for service.

The Purpose and History of Supervision in Nigeria

Nowadays, the demand for quality education (in the face of spiral increasing
enrolment) so as to keep abreast with the explosion in knowledge and the necessary skills
required for the growing complexity is of paramount concern”. These forces often compel the
reformation of school’s curricula; there by, bringing about the provision of new programmes
in the school curricula and the provision of the required teaching force. Thus, supervision
forcefully steps in as an appropriate answer for deciding the nature and content of curriculum
in selecting the school organizational patterns and learning materials to facilitate teaching,
and in evaluating the entire educational system from the elementary through the University
level. Undoubtedly therefore, an effective supervisory programme made up of a formidable
team to coordinate and enhance all teaching and learning efforts becomes very necessary.

The principles governing the purposes of supervision according Eye and Netzer
(2002), is the promotion of pupil growth and hence the improvement of the society. Wiles
(2004) posits that supervision in schools becomes very paramount these days due to
increased number of enrolment, the development of new curriculum, the need for specialized
training and knowledge in teaching, increased staff requirements in both quality and quantity
and the differing and different competencies demanded from teachers all called for the
development of a process of bringing about improvement in instruction by working with
people who are working with pupils. Agu (2003) postulated that the immediate purpose of
instructional supervision for teaching and learning could be summarised as follows:

1. Improving methods of teaching and learning.
2. Creating a physical, social and psychological climate or environment favourable for

learning.
3. Coordinating and integrating all educational efforts and materials which will ensure

continuity.
4. Enlisting the cooperation of all staff members in serving their own needs and those of

others to prevent teaching difficulties.
5. Aiding, inspiring, leading and developing that security which liberates the creative

spirit of the teacher.
6. Helping teachers see more clearly the real end results of education and the special

roles of working towards these goals.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 25

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

7. Helping teachers see the problems and needs of learners and to help them solve these
problems and provide for these needs as far as possible.

8. Building group morale and unifying teachers into an effective team, working with
intelligence and appreciative of cooperation to achieve the same general goal.

9. Associating the work for which each teacher is most suited, assigning him to such
work and to encourage him, to develop further his capacity in many promising
directions.

10. Inducting beginning teachers into the mainstream of the school system in particular
and into the teaching profession in general.

In Nigeria, “supervision grew as a way of improving the existing mission schools”
(Ogunsaju, 1983). Phelps-Stoke Report of 1962 indicated that there was neither proper
coordination of efforts nor was there anything like organization in the first forty-five years of
education in the country. The first step taken by the colonial government of Nigeria to
control education was after the first ordinance was enacted in 1877, which among others,
provided for the appointment of an Assistant Inspector of Education for the British West
African Colony. In 1906, after the amalgamation of Lagos with the protectorate of Southern
Nigeria, the Department of Education was established. For years thereafter, Lagos office
served as a coordinating centre for the offices that were later established in the rest of the
provinces.

In 1926, the ordinance made it mandatory for voluntary agencies to appoint their own
supervisory staff. And in 1929, posited that “the colonial government appointed visiting and
supervisory staff” Udoh and Akpa (2001). The 1952 constitution brought into being,
Ministries of Education for the three regions; East, North and West. In 1957, an Inspectorate
Division was set up in the West, East and the North followed in 1958 and 1959 respectively.
These divisions were charged with the responsibility of schools inspection with a view to
minimizing declining standard of education. Thus, following the Mustard report of 1972
(Udoh and Akpa, 2001), subject inspectors were appointed in the various states. They were to
inspect teaching and text books in the respective fields and forward their reports to the
headquarters.

From the above, it is understood that the overall aim of supervision has consistently
remained that of ensuring and improving the quality of instruction in schools. How this is
done might however change with the explosion in knowledge and the emerging sophisticated
techniques.

The Changing Concept of Supervision

Traditionally, supervision was an activity in the school process where teachers were
visited in the classroom, without prior arrangement or even notification with a view to
finding faults and judging them so that those who performed below expectations could be
wedded out. It operated on the assumption that since teachers were not properly trained they
should be subjected to constant supervision and training. Also, it presumed that there was a
fixed and known method of teaching and teacher’s quality was adjudged by complying with
same. Traditional inspection was thus, haphazard and instilled fear in the teachers.

The new concept of supervision, on the other hand, recognizes the fact that it exists
primarily for the purpose of improving the instructional programme in the school. Based on
this philosophy, therefore, modern supervision becomes a skilled and specialized service
rendered to teachers to improve their skills and the entire school programme. Modern

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 26

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

supervision views teachers as meant to be helped to identify and solve their professional
problems for the purpose of improving the total learning environment.

In summary, modern school supervision, is positively oriented, democratic, objective
in nature creative and systematic in approach. It also promotes the spirit of finding out facts
through experimentation and continuous evaluation. The emerging changes in the school
system as evident in the spiral increases in students’ enrollment, pre-service training
programme for teachers, indiscipline and other vices plaguing the school as well as the scare
resources and the decaying infrastructure of schools, compel the school administrator to
mount an effective supervisory programme.

In the 21st century, due to obvious changes in our school system and the environment;
the ages of the enrolled students, learning/teaching facilities, the learning environments, the
various communities in which the schools are situated, the cosmopolitan nature of the
students, the caliber of teachers, the fast changing and nature of the society, the economic
situation and even the global and technological changes; the school administrator has a lot of
challenges to face. As moulders and developers of human potentials, the schools
administrators should ever be forward looking.

To brace up to the supervisory challenges of the 21st century, the school administrator
needs to be exposed to a number of supervisory models. Even though, there are currently
several approaches to supervision. There is no one best model or best way to help teachers.
Consideration of specific teacher needs and of specific supervisory goals should serve as a
guide to selection of a model of supervision. It is therefore advantageous in the opinion of
Landers and Myers (1977) to develop a broad repertoire of supervisory strategies and skills.
Just as classroom teachers seek to individualize their strategy in the application of the
particular model that best suits a particular teaching problem.

Models of Supervision

There are at present five proven models of supervision as postulated by Olagboye
(2004) as follows:-

The Skill Training Model

This is a diagnostic and prescriptive approach to supervision. In the application of this
model the supervisor begins by determining along with his teacher those elements of
teaching behaviour that lead to effective teaching. Teacher’s skills could as well be
developed in addition to that, by attending conferences, seminars and workshops. In service
or on-the-job training also helps to perfect the teacher’s skills in the discharge of his duties.

Counselling Model

In this model, the supervisor deals with the teacher outside the classroom and draws
not from the teacher’s classroom behaviour, but concerned about the teacher’s self
awareness. The model is based on the assumptions that:

a) teaching is an expression of the self;
b) psychological changes bring about changes in teaching behaviour;
c) if one can build a sense of personal security and confidence, it will have positive

results in the classroom.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 27

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

d) the solution to teaching problem lies with the teacher and supervision can help to
improve a teacher’s self-concept.

Clinical Supervision

Through a careful systematic procedure, clinical supervision tries to take account of
the teachers’ behaviour and feelings in supportive, analytic and non-evaluative context.
Cogan (2001) presents a cycle of clinical supervision divided into phases as shown below:

Phase 1: Establishing the Teacher-Supervisor Relationship

The first phase of clinical supervision is the period in which the supervisor:

(a) establishes the clinical relationship between himself and the teacher;
(b) helps the teacher to achieve some general understanding about clinical supervision

and a perspective on its sequence; and
(c) begins to induct the teacher into his new role and functions in advance before the

supervisor enters the teacher’s classroom to observe his teaching.

Phase 2: Planning with the Teacher

The teacher and supervisor together plan a lesson, a series of lessons, or a unit Lesson
here is generally taken to mean an instructional process oriented by objectives of fairly
limited scope and designed to be accomplished in a span of time varying from part of a class
period to a school day.

Plans commonly include specification of outcomes, anticipated problems of
instruction, materials and strategies of teaching, process of learning and provisions for
feedback and evaluation.

Phase 3: Planning the Strategy of Observation

The supervisor plans the objectives, the processes and the physical and technical
arrangements for the observation and the collection of data. His functions in the observation
are clearly specified. The teacher joins in planning the observation and takes a role in the
planning as he becomes more familiar with the process of clinical supervision.

Phase 4: Observing Instruction

The supervisor observes the instruction in person and utilizes other techniques for
recording classroom events. It is important to gather information on both performance and
collect data.

Phase 5: Analysing the Teaching-Learning Processes

Following the observation, the teacher and the supervisor analyse the event of the
class. Initially they usually perform this task separately. Later they may do so together.
Decisions are taken as to what these procedures are made for with careful regard for the
teacher’s developing competencies in clinical supervision and his needs at the moment.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 28

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

Phase 6: Planning the Strategy of Conference

In the early stages of working with a teacher, the supervisor alone generally develops
the plan, alternatives, and strategies for conducting the conference with the teacher. Later on,
this planning can be a joint exercise involving supervisor and teacher as part of the
conference itself.

Phase 7: The Conference

The supervisor provides feedback to the teacher on his performance and the effects of
the selected behaviour patterns. The focus is on the performance, the teacher’s actions and
behaviour, not on the person of the teacher. It is important here to use behvaiour description
and avoid the tendency to interpret behaviour for the teacher. By providing accurate
objective data based on previous decision and agreements between teachers and supervisor
stop the analysis and discussion of the previous lesson to begin planning the next lesson and
the changes the teacher will attempt to make in his instruction. The resumption of planning
also makes the resumption of the sequences of the cycle.

Group Model

This is an increasingly important strategy that requires skills in group processes.

This model is useful for two goals:

(a) to promote a learning experience; and
(b) to accomplish a particular task

In the group setting, the participants will explore their own assumptions, become
aware of the variety of approaches to issues, explore alternative points of view and learn to
respect others, while affirming their own individuality. In short, the supervisor invites
teachers to learn through communication with others.

Intra-mural Model

A recent innovation in the supervisory practice is the intra-mural model. Under this
dispensation, a teacher supervises his colleague in a co-operative and supportive manner.
This would be practically helpful in Nigeria where the number of qualified teachers and
supervisors are grossly inadequate. Here the few qualified teachers could therefore champion
the course of improving the effectiveness of their colleagues.

The Role of School Administrators in Educational Supervision

The history and purpose of supervision showed among others that the exercise has
methodologically shifted from the traditional inspection and its inadequacies to the modern
complex supervision that is collegial, systematic, discursive, democratic and informed by
research and analysis to pressuring procedures that seek improvement. The complexity of
this exercise certainly suggests active participation of a number of school personnel in which
the school head must take a leading role.

The school administrator has emerged as one of the most important leadership
positions. This is because the head is both an administrator and supervisor. However, studies
have shown that most school administrators demonstrate lopsided concern for the former to
the virtual neglect of the later. Whereas, Campbell, (1997), opined that, the instructional

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 29

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

leadership role should receive more stress than his management function. This is particularly
important because of the inadequacies of supervisory practice in Nigeria.

The precarious Nigerian situation requires the intensification of supervisory activities
to be championed by the school head. This becomes most crucial in view of the fact that the
death of qualified instructional supervisors has created an unreasonably wide span of control
in the number of schools under their jurisdiction. Instead of an average of twenty five
teachers to a supervisor prescribed by Arthur and James (2006), it is indeed a worrisome
situation particularly that there are several ill-trained and unqualified people among the
teaching force. This therefore calls for a determined role of the school head who sets the
stage for instructional improvement activities. Thus, the strategic ways in which the school
administrator’s supervisory practice can be enhanced include but not limited to:

1. The planning and the mechanics of text-book adoption, purchase of audio-visual aids,
reference books and other instructional materials that can contribute to teacher
satisfaction and improvement.

2. The orientation and induction of new teachers and provision of special assistance to the
beginning and needy teachers.

3. Visitation and holding conferences with teachers in the formulation and achievement of
aims, objectives, procedures and lesson evaluation.

4. As for the real demonstrations in teaching, Goldhammer, Anderson & Drajewski (2000)
noted that a school head assuming teaching duties alongside his administrative tasks will
enhance his prestige as really being an instructional leader of the school. This is
particularly important because his participation will contribute to a greater understanding
of both teachers and learners.

5. organizing of workshops, seminars and conferences internally for the teachers or
encouraging them to attend same elsewhere to improve on what they already know and
to be abreast with the modern methodological development.

6. Insistence on staff development. The changes in content and methodology in school
curricula necessitate constant training and re-training of teachers through in service and
on-the-job training.

7. Encouraging teachers to appreciate and practice intra-mural supervision is considered
very important in teacher improvement through cooperation and collegial or self-
supervision; given the death of qualified, experienced and seasoned supervisors.

8. Development and adherence to the school’s functional time-table for both teacher
student interactions in curricula and co-curricular activities.

The foregoing simply affirms the unanimity of literature about the fact that the school
head has an over-whelming impact on learning outcomes in the school. He necessarily has to
provide a leadership in this respect to improve the diminishing schools image and in
responding to the needs of the society.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to reiterate that supervision is an important tool which
promotes teachers and pupils/students growth and improvements of the school system. It
improves methods of teaching and learning and creates a physical, social and psychological
climate favourable to learning. It helps in aiding, inspiring and developing sense of security
and belonging and gives a clear perception of the school’s set objectives. Therefore, the
government should make a pragmatic effort towards enhancing school supervision with a

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 30

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

view to realizing the lofty goals and objectives of the Nigerian Education System to meet the
global challenges of the 21st Century.

References

Agu, E.M. (2003) Instructional Supervision. Enugu: Forth Dimension Publisher.

Arthus, B.M. & James, A. (2000) Schools Supervision. New York: Appleton Century-
Grofts.

Burton, W.H. and Brueckner L.J. (2011) “Supervision: A Social Process” In Sergionvanni,
N. Supervision: Human Perspective New York: McGraw Hill.

Cogan, A.S (2001). Instructional Supervision: A Behavioural System. Boston: Allyn and
Bacon.

Eye, C. G. & Netzer, K.A (2002) Supervision of Instruction. New York: Hooper and Row
Publisher.

Ezeocha, P.A. (2001) School Management and Supervision. Owerri: New African Publishing
Co. Ltd.

Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004). National Policy on Education. Lagos NERDC Press

Goldhammer, R.; Anderson, R.N. & Drajewski, R.J. (2000) Clinical Supervision. New York:
Rhinehert and Winston publisher.

Harris, B.N. (2007) Supervisory Behaviour in Education. New Jersey: Prentice Hall
Publishers.

Landers, T.J and Myers, G.T (1997) Essential of School Management. London: Oxford
University Press.

Udoh, S.U and Akpa, G.O (2001) “Theory and Practice of Educational Administration and
Supervision” in Journal of Education Management. Department of Educational
Management, University of Ibadan 3(2). 33-47

Ogunsaju, S. (1983). Educational Supervision: Perspectives and Practice in Nigeria. Ife:
University of Ife Press Ltd.

Olagboye, A.A (2004). Handbook of Educational Supervision. Ibadan: Spectrum Books Ltd.

Wile, K. (2004) Supervision for Better Schools. New York: Prentice Hall Publisher.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 31

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

Effect of Trigoludo and Trigoratio Games on Mathematics Students’
Performances in Trigonometry in Abak Local Government Area.

Bassey, Iberedem Sylvester & Ado, Isaac Bennet (Ph.D)

Department of science education
Faculty of education

University of Uyo, Uyo
email: [email protected] 08082451429,

email: [email protected] 08138905819

Abstract
This study investigated the “Effects of Trigoludo and Trigoratio games on Mathematics
Students’ performance in Trigonometry in Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
The study adopted a post test only control group design. The population of the study
comprised of all Senior Secondary One (SS1) students in the ten (10) public secondary
schools in Abak Local Government Area. A sample of Eighty (80) SS1 students from two (2)
schools were used for the study. The sample was selected using simple random sampling
Technique. The instrument for collection of data was the Mathematics Achievement Test
(MAT). The reliability coefficient of the instrument was found to be 0.79 after trial testing the
instrument on twenty (20) SS1 students that were not part of the study. Data obtained were
analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test statistical analysis. Findings showed that
students taught with Trigoludo game performed better than those taught with Trigoratio
game. Findings also showed that male and female student’s performance did not differ
significantly. It was recommended that mathematical games should be made available and
used accordingly in teaching to enhance the students’ academic performance.

Keywords: Trigonometry, Trigoludo, Trigoratio Games, Mathematics, Students’ Performances

Introduction

For science and technology to successfully achieve the goals of sustainable
development in any country, there is need to engage creatively in science and mathematics
education. Bajah (2000) noted that no nation can make any meaningful progress in the
information technology age, particularly in economic development without technology which
has science and mathematics as its foundations. This is because the level of Science,
Technology and Mathematics Education (STME) of any nation has been widely accepted to
be indicative of that nation’s socio-economic and geo-political development.

Mathematics is one of the core subjects to be offered by all students up till the tertiary
levels of education (Federal Government of Nigeria 2013). This compulsory nature of
mathematics carries with it the assumption that the knowledge of the subject is essential for
all members of the society. In fact, mathematics competence is a critical determinant of the
post -secondary education and career options available to young people (Okereke, 2006).
Stressing on the importance of mathematics, Okigbo (2010) described the subject as the

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 32

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

mirror of civilization in all the centuries of painstaking calculation and the most basic
discipline for any person who would be truly educated in any science and other endeavours.

Mathematics being an important and core subject in the school system has always
being termed difficult. This is envisaged in the performance of students in both primary and
secondary schools. There have been several reported cases of students’ poor performance in
both internal and external examinations (Okigbo, 2010). This has resulted to both
mathematicians and mathematics educationists search for teaching methods and resources
that can enhance students’ interest thereby enhancing their performance. This search enabled
the use of mathematical games in the teaching of mathematics

A mathematical game is one of the most potent means of increasing students’
performance in mathematics. Dotun (2005) described mathematical games as activities in the
form of puzzles, magic tricks, fallacies, paradoxes or any type of mathematics which
provides amusement or curiosity and stimulates mathematical thinking, excitement and spirit
of competition and co-operation. Many reasons abound for using mathematical games. The
games help to reduce the level of abstraction involved in teaching and learning a concept in
mathematics, capturing the learners’ interest and providing for active participation of the
students. Dotun (2005) further stressed that games do not only help in releasing tension and
boredom in class but also provide an environment where the children can develop their
individual and collective skills and acquire more knowledge.

There are various mathematical games that can be used in the teaching of
mathematics. Trigoludo and Trigoratio games are mathematical games that can be used in the
teaching of mathematics. Trigoludo is a mathematical game in form of a ludo which is
labeled with angles that will enable the students to master the trigonometric ratios for special
angles 00, 300, 450, 600, 900 and get used to changing signs of ratios moving from one
quadrant to another in the course of the game play. Trigoratio is also a mathematical game
designed for the students to reinforce, the skill of finding the trigonometric ratio of special
angles to enhance their speed in solving problems involving trigonometric ratios. The use of
mathematical games ( Trigoludo and Trigoratio ) would enable the students to take active
part in class as they would involve both mentally on how to win the game.

The active learning model was used as the instruction to present both games to the
two groups. This was done in order to put the two groups at par in terms of instruction, and
only the games (Trigoludo amd Trigoratio) would be at variance. Active learning focuses on
placing the responsibilities of learning on learners (Cranton, 2012). It is on this basis
Trigoludo and Trigoratio games are used to discover which will be more effective in
increasing the student’s performance in Trigonometry and how it will influence the
performances of male and female students. Iji, Abakpa, and Takor (2013) carried out a research to
examine the effect of Algebraic game on students’ achievement in algebraic linear graphs. The results
revealed that there was significant difference in the mean achievement scores of students taught
algebraic linear graph using algebra game than those taught using lecture method. It also revealed that
there was no significant difference in the achievement of male and female students who were taught
algebraic linear graph using algebra game. Achor, Imoko and Ajai (2010) investigated on sex

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 33

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

differentials in the achievement and interest in geometry using games and simulations techniques.
Their findings revealed that male and female students taught Geometry using Games and Simulations
did not differ significantly both in interest and achievement.

Statement of the Problem

Evidence of poor performance shown by researchers (Okereke 2006; WAEC, 2005-
2009: NECO, 2016) points to the fact that the current method of teaching mathematics may
not be exciting to the students. This has lead to students’ lack of understanding of the
concepts, functionality and application of mathematical ideas. The WAEC chief Examiners
reports (2012, 2013 & 2016) stated how constituently reported that students dodge questions
in trigonometry and when an attempt is made; they show lack of understanding of the
concepts in their workings. Based on the forgoing the researcher decided to use mathematical
games in teaching trigonometry and observe their effect on students’ performance. Can
mathematical games (Trigoludo and Trigoratio) enhance students’ performance in
trigonometry?

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to determine the effects of trigoludo and trigoratio games
on student’s performance in trigonometry in Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom
State. The study specifically sought to:

1. Compare the performance of mathematics students taught trigonometry using
trigoludo game and those taught using trigoratio game.

2. Compare the performance of male and female students taught trigonometry using
trigoludo game

3. Compare the performance of male and female students taught trigonometry using
trigoratio game

Research Questions

In line with the purpose of the study, the following research questions were posed:

1. What differences exist between the performance of mathematics students taught
trigonometry using trigoludo game and those taught using trigoratio game?

2. What differences exist in the performance of male and female students taught
trigonometry using trigoludo game?

3. What differences exist in the performance of male and female students taught
trigonometry using trigoratio game?

Null Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were formulated to be tested.

1. There is no significant difference between the performance of mathematics students
taught trigonometry using trigoludo game and those taught using trigoratio game.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 34

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

2. There is no significant difference between the performance of male and female
students taught trigonometry using trigoludo game

3. There is no significant difference between the performance of male and female
students taught trigonometry using trigoratio game.

Methodology

The design adopted for this study was the post-test only control group design

X 01

C 01

Where

X = Exposure of group to treatment

C = Exposure of group to control condition

O1 = test administration to control and experimental group after treatment.

The researcher adopted this design because they considered the simple randomization
of the schools to have taken care of the equivalence of the two groups. The trigoratio game
was used as control because it is mainly used in the schools in the study area. The population
of the study consisted of the entire Senior Secondary One (SS I) mathematics students of the
13 public schools in Abak Local Government Area for the 2015/2016 academic session. The
population of senior secondary one (SS I) mathematics students is 3460 in Abak Local
Government Area for 2015/2016 school session (Local Education Council 2015). Senior
secondary one (SS I) students were chosen because the concept of special angles is usually
taught in senior secondary one (SS I) class. The sample consisted of 80 Senior Secondary
One (SS I) mathematics students drawn from two (2) secondary schools in Abak Local
Government Area. The Two secondary schools were randomly selected from the 13 public
secondary schools in the area. The two schools were randomly assigned the control and
experimental group. The experimental group was taught using Trigoludo while the control
group was taught using Trigoratio.

The instrument used for data collection was the Mathematics Achievement Test
(MAT), MAT was based on the concept of special angles. The MAT was made up of two
parts, part one was on students personal data while part two consisted of twenty (20) multiple
choice questions with four (4) options lettered A-D. Students were asked to circle the correct
option. The instrument was constructed to effectively collect data from the students, which
was used for the analysis. The Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) was face and content
validated by three mathematics teachers in the secondary schools and one mathematics
educator in the University of Uyo. All comments, criticisms and corrections made by these
experts were incorporated into the final version of the instrument. The Mathematics
Achievement Test (MAT) was administered to twenty (20) senior secondary one (SS I)

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 35

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

mathematics students who were from the population but not part of the study. The split half
method of reliability was used to establish the reliability co-efficient. The result obtained was
correlated using Pearson product moment correlation Analysis (PPMC). The reliability
coefficient of the whole test was then computed using the spearman-Brown formula and a
reliability coefficient of 0.79 was obtained. The instrument was thus considered reliable for
the study. The researcher trained the research assistance who were the regular teachers of the
students. They were taught on how to the games could be played. The research assistance
were left to teach their students. The experimental group used the trigoludo while the control
group used the trigoratio. This was done in order to avoid Placebo-Hawthorne effect, where
the experimenters would react on having knowledge of participating in an experiment. The
teaching was done for five weeks. The mathematics achievement test was then administered
to the students. After the MAT was administered, the scripts were collected and marked.
Each correct answer provided by students attracted five (5) marks while wrong option
attracted zero (0) marks. The total score for the 20 items had been 100 marks.

The data obtained from the study were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and
independent t-test. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 alpha level of significant.

Results

Research Question 1: What differences exist between the performance of mathematics
students taught trigonometry using trigoludo game and those taught using trigoratio game?

Table 1: Mean and Standard Deviation of Posttest Scores of Students Taught Using

Trigoludo Game and Those Taught Using Trigoratio Game.

Game N X SD

Trigoludo 40 67.80 16.95

Trigoratio 40 56.80 16.46

As shown in Table 1, students taught trigonometry using Trigonometry mean is 67.8 while

those taught using trigoratio mean is 56.8. it can be inferred from the result that those taught

using trigoludo performed better than those taught using trigoratio.

Research Question 2: What differences exist in the performance of male and female
students taught trigonometry using trigoludo game?

Table 2: Mean and Standard Deviation of Posttest Scores of Male and Female Students

taught using Trigoludo Games.

Gender N X SD

Male 20 70.50 18.3

Female 20 62.50 14.9

As presented in Table 2, male students taught using trigoludo mean is 70.5 while the female
counterpart is 62.5. This indicates that male students performed better than their female
counterparts.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 36

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

Research Question3: What differences exist in the performance of male and female students
taught trigonometry using trigoratio game?

Table 3: Mean and Standard Deviation of Posttest Scores of Male and Female Students

taught using Trigoratio Games

Gender N X SD

Male 20 61.00 15.32

Female 20 52.50 16.46

Table 3 showed that the mean of male students taught trigonometry using trigoratio is 61.00
while their female counterpart is 52.50. This indicates that male students performed better
than their female counterparts.

Null Hypothesis 1: There is no significant difference between the performance of
mathematics students taught trigonometry using trigoludo game and those taught using
trigoratio game.

Table 4: t-test Analysis of Post-test Scores of Mathematics Students taught Trigonometry
using Trigoludo Game and those taught using Trigoratio Game.

Game N X SD Df t-cal t-crit Decision
67.8 16.95
Trigoludo 40

78 2.94 1.99 *

Trigoratio 40 56.8 16.46

* = Significant at 0.05 level of significance

The result in table 4 shows that the calculated t-value (2.94) is greater than the critical

t-value (1.99) at 0.05 level of significance. Consequently, the null hypothesis is rejected. This

implies that there exists significant difference in the performance of mathematics students

taught trigonometry using trigoludo game and those taught using trigoratio game.

Null Hypothesis 2: There is no significant difference between the performance of male and
female students taught trigonometry using trigoludo game.

Table 5: t-test Analysis of Post-test Scores of Male and Female Mathematics Students taught
Trigonometry using Trigoludo Game.

Gender N X SD Df t-cal t-crit Decision

Male 20 70.5 18.3

38 1.52 2.0 NS

Female 20 62.5 14.9

NS = not significant at 0.05 level of significance

From table 5, the results show that the calculated t-value (1.52) is less than the critical t-

values (2.0) at .05 level of significance. Consequently, the null hypothesis is retained. This

implies that there is no significant difference between the performance of male and female

students taught trigonometry using trigoludo game.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 37

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

Null Hypothesis 3: There is no significant difference between the performances of male and
female students taught trigonometry using trigoratio game.

Table 6: t-table analysis of post-test scores of male and female mathematics students taught
trigonometry using Trigoratio game.

Gender N X SD Df t-cal t-crit Decision

Male 20 61 15.32

38 1.67 2.0 NS

Female 20 52.5 16.46

NS = not significant at 0.05 level of significance

From the table 6, the results show that the calculated t-value (1.67) is less than the critical t-
value (2.0) at 0.05 level of significance consequently, the null hypothesis is retained. This
implies that there is no significant difference between the performance of male and female
students taught trigonometry using trigoratio game.

Discussion of Findings

Findings from the result in Table 1 revealed that there was a significant difference
between the academic performances of students taught trigonometry using trigoludo game
and those taught using trigoratio game. This could be because the trigoludo game appeared to
be much more competitive than the trigoratio game because it involves a larger number of
players than the trigoratio game. This finding is in line with the work of Iji, Abakpa and
Takor (2013) who emphasized the importance of games in teaching mathematics. In their
study, they found out that students taught algebraic graph using algebra game performed
better than those taught using the lecture method. Kebritchi (2008) found that high school
students that interacted with a math video game DimensionM outperformed their non-gaming
peers.

Findings from the result in table 2 revealed that there was no significant difference
between the academic performances of male and female students taught trigonometry using
trigoludo game. This result contradicts the work of Azuka (2006) who concluded in his study
that there was a significant difference in performance of male and female students in sports
and games. Alamina and Olubunmi (2007) investigated the effects of Mathematical Games
on students’ attitude in Mathematics in Secondary Schools in Port Harcourt. The results
showed that the attitude of students towards Mathematics improved after the use of games in
teaching Mathematics for both males and females.

Findings from table 3 revealed that there was no significant difference between the
academic performances of male and female students taught trigonometry using trigoratio
game. This finding is in line with the work of Imoko, Achor and Ajai (2010) who revealed
that male and female students taught trigonometry using games and simulations did not differ
significantly both in achievement and interest.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 38

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

Conclusion

It can be concluded from the findings that Trigoludo game facilitated the teaching of
trigonometry more than that of trigoratio as it better enhanced the performance of students
when compared to Trigoludo. The two games were gender friendly as they equally enhanced
the performance of both male and female students.

Recommendations

Based on the result of this study, the following recommendations were made;

1. Students should be taught using mathematical games as it simplifies the difficult
concepts and increases their academic performance.

2. Mathematics teachers should provide instructional activities like puzzles, trigoludo,
trigoratio, card games before, within and after a mathematics lesson in order to relate
mathematics to enhance performance of students.

3. Mathematics teachers should be trained on the use of mathematical games by the
game developers so as to ensure that they grasp the tenets of mathematical games.

4. Curriculum planners should incorporate the use of mathematical game in
restructuring mathematics curriculum in the country. The curriculum should be
restructured to reflect the basic concept of mathematical games as they pertain to
mathematics teaching/learning.

References

Alamina, J. I. & Olubunmi, A. M. (2007). Effects of Mathematical Games on Nigerian
Students Attitude Towards Mathematics in Secondary Schools in Port Harcourt
Metropolis. The African Symposium, 158.

Azuka, B. (2006). Active learning in the mathematics classroom implications to secondary
mathematics and UBE. Proceeding of Annual national conference of MAN (pp181-
187).Abuja. MAN

Bajah, S.T. (2000). Emerging global issues in Education. I.M. Abul & A.E. Tsebo (Eds)
paper presented at the National Conference on Curriculum innovation in the 21st
century, (pp 41-49) Abuja

Cranton, P. A. (2012). Planning Instruction for Adult Learners (3rd Ed.). Toronto: Wall And
Emerson.

Dotun, F. (2005) Mathematical Game for teaching simple substitution of values into
Algebraic Expressions, Journal of Issues on Mathematics, 8(1), 97-105.

Federal Government of Nigeria (2013). National Policy on Education. Lagos: NERDC

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 39

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

Imoko, I. B. Achor,.,& Ajai, J.T. (2010). Sex Differentials in Students‘ Achievement and
Interest in Geometry Using Games and Simulations Technique. Necatibey Faculty of
Education Electronic Journal of Science and Mathematics Education. 4,(1), 23-25.

Imoko, I. B. & Agwagah, U. N. V. (2006). Improving students’ interest in mathematics
through the concept mapping technique: A focus on gender. Journal of Research in
Curriculum Teaching, 1(1), 30-38.

Iji, Abakpa, and Takor (2013): Improving the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics for the
Attainment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through the use of Mathematical
Games in Makurdi Local Government Area, Benue State, Nigeria. Journal of Social Sciences
& Education, 4(1).

JAMB (2004-2008). POST UME Report. Lagos: Joint Admission and Matriculation Board
Press.

Kebritchi, M. (2008). Effects of a computer game on mathematics achievement and class
motivation: An experimental study. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A:
Humanities and Social Sciences, 69(6-A), 2121.

Local Education Council (2015). Statistical Bulletin for 2015/2016 academic session.

National Mathematical centre Abuja (2002). Mathematical games for secondary schools.
Abuja.

NECO (2016) .Chief Examiners Report, Abuja: NECO press limited.

Okereke, S. C. (2006). Effects of Prior knowledge of Implications of Mathematical tasks /
concepts to Career types and Gender on students’ Achievement, Interest and
Retention. The 47th STAN Annual Conference Proceeding, 253 – 259.

Okigbo, E. C. (2010). Comparative Effectiveness of Mathematical Game and instructional
Analogy as Advance organizers on student achievement and interest in mathematics.
(Unpublished doctoral thesis), Nnamdi Azikwe University, Akwa.

WAEC (2012-2016), Chief Examiners Report. Lagos: WAEC press limited.

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 40

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

Assessing the Impact of School Environment on Academic Performance of
Senior Secondary School Students in Economics

Dr. Dorcas S. Daramola
Department of Social Sciences Education,

Faculty of Education,
University of Ilorin, Nigeria.
[email protected]

Dr. Adekunle T. Olutola
Department of Educational Foundations,

Faculty of Education,
Federal University, Dutsin-Ma,

Katsina State, Nigeria.
[email protected], [email protected]

&
Dr. Mayowa O. Ogunjimi
Department of Adult and Primary Education,

Faculty of Education,
University of Ilorin, Nigeria.
[email protected]
Abstract
This study assessed the impact of school environment on academic performance of senior
secondary school students in Economics. The researchers adopted survey research design for
the study. Two hundred and fifty (250) senior secondary school Economics students were
randomly selected for the study. A researchers’ designed questionnaire titled School
Environment Questionnaire (SEQ) with Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.89 was
used to collect data for the study. Also, the senior secondary school student’s second term
scores were collected with profoma. The researcher used mean and standard deviation to
answer research question one, while Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistics was
used to test all the four hypotheses formulated at 0.05 level of significance. Finding revealed
that there is no significant relationship between school environment and students’ academic
performance in Economic in senior secondary school in Ilorin (p-value 0.981 > 0.05). Also,
the findings revealed that there is no significant relationship between school facilities and
students’ academic performance in economics in senior secondary school in Ilorin (p-value
0.796 > 0.05). In addition, there is no significant relationship between classroom condition
and students’ academic performance in economics in senior secondary school in Ilorin ((p-
value 0.734 > 0.05) and there is no significant relationship between school location and
students’ academic performance in economics in senior secondary school in Ilorin (p-valve
0.923 > 0.05). Based on these findings, it was recommended that conducive learning
environment should be created for the students so that they would be able to perform
academically. Moreover, schools should be provided with adequate teaching aids, as this
will also enhance the academic performance of students in economics

Keywords: Academic Performance, Assessing, Performance, School Environment

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 41

Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo

Introduction
The school environment is an essential factor to be considered in child’s ability to learn.

School environment is one of the factors that affect the nature of teaching process and its
outcome that in turn may or may not be productive in achieving the desired educational goals
and objectives. The efficiency of a school system in achieving its organizational objectives
depends on the effectiveness of the various environmental factors to which the components
of the system are subject to.

According to Oluchukwu (2000) and Ajayi (2001), the school environment which include
the classroom, libraries, technical workshops, laboratories, teacher’s quality, school
management, teaching methods, peers etc. are variables that affect student’s academic
performance. Hence, the school environment remains an important area that should be
managed and well-studied to enhance student’s academic performance. The quality of
education is not only dependent on the teachers as reflected in the performance of their
duties, but also in the effective co-ordination of the school environment (Ajao, 2001).
Stewart (1990) he defined school environment as an atmospheric environment built by the
inhabitants of the school, perceived differently, depending perhaps on their status within the
institution, but affecting them all and communicated to observe. Thomas (1980) defined
school environment as the general conditions pervading in the entire school as perceived by
the students, teachers and principals. To him, it is the organizational characteristics of the
school as a community. These characteristics includes; interpersonal relationship, decision
making, communication structure, sensitivity to teacher’s problems, attitudes, values and
morals of the entire school.

Some of the environmental factors that militate against academic performance of students
in economics are non-availability of school facilities such as chairs, tables, good library,
teaching aids, textbooks etc, school location, school size and class size, dilapidated building
and poor indoor ventilation. According to Evans and Matiu (1991), this factor may be
affecting physical health of children because the dilapidated building has been found to
exhibit clear signs of sensory irritation, skin rashes and mental fatigue, and all these factors
have been found capable of reducing the ability of students to perform very well. (Ogbeifum
and Olisa, 2001).

In the school setting, students’ performance in economics plays a significant role in the
economic, agricultural, industrial and commercial growth of the country. This can be seen
from the role at which the developed countries are dictating the pace of Nigerian economic
development through their various instruments and organizations. Economics is a science,
which studies human behaviour in relationship with scarce means, which have alternative
uses. This particular aspect of study contributed a lot to the development of mankind starting
from the era of Stone Age to the present technological age. Economics is interesting as it has
quickly gained popularity and acceptance among parents, teachers and students (Obemeata,
1980).
According to Adu (2002), the study of Economics serves a useful purpose in modern life. It
gives us facts and shows us what may be expected to be the outcome of certain lines of
conduct; it helps us to decide which of several alternatives to choose. It charged its recipient
to make wise choice that will satisfy their needs in the presence of unlimited wants and
resources.

However, despite the importance of economics both to the literate and illiterates, its study
at the lower and higher levels of education has not been encouraging. It has been observed
that students’ performance in Economics is not so encouraging and students find it difficult
to pass Economics. Poor academic performance at the senior secondary level of education
particularly at the terminal stage has been a serious problem in the education sector. For

Vol. 8(2) 2017 Page 42