USE OF MANIPULATIVES IN MATHEMATICS CLASSROOMS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN IKOT EKPENE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

The study was carried out to examine the use of manipulatives in mathematics classrooms and academic performance of students in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area. In order to achieve this purpose, three objectives, three research questions and three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The design for the study was quasi-experimental design. The population for the study consisted of all the 2552 senior secondary two (SS 2) mathematics students in nine (9) public secondary schools in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area. The sample for the study was 100 SS 2 students. The sampling technique used was simple random sampling technique by balloting method . The instrument used for the study was titled “Mathematics Performance Test (MPT). The instrument was subjected to face and content validity. A reliability coefficient of .80 was obtained for the instrument using test retest method. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while independent t-test was used for testing the hypotheses. The findings of this study showed that there is significant difference in the mean performance scores of students in mathematics when taught trigonometry using manipulatives and those taught using traditional method; there is no significant difference in the mean performance scores in mathematics between male and female students taught Trigonometry using manipulatives; and that there is no significant difference in the mean performance scores in mathematics of male and female students taught trigonometry using traditional method. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that the use of manipulatives in mathematics classrooms enhance academic performance of students in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area. It was recommended that pre-service teacher education programmes should incorporate manipulatives in the curriculum to prepare teachers with respect to its effective usage.