GEOBOARD APPLICATION ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND INTEREST OF SENIOR SECONDARY STUDENTS IN GEOMETRY IN OGBA/EGBEMA/NDONI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF RIVERS STATE

This study was designed to advocate the efficiency of geoboard manipulatives in senior secondary school students’ academic performance and interest in the teaching and learning of geometry. A sample of eighty (80) Senior Secondary Schools One (SS1) students used were used by two random sampling technique from 4 secondary schools in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area Of Rivers State. The instrument for data collection were Geometric Mathematics Achievement Test(GMAT) and Questionnaire. The reliability of the instrument was tested outside the population sample with the coefficient of 0.98 using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC). The instruments were also validated by the researcher’s supervisor and some Mathematics experts. This research was guided by three (3) objectives, three (3) research questions and three (3) hypothesis. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviations, while t-test was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The method of data analysis was Statistical Package For Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 software. The major findings of the study established that geoboard technique for consistently produced more meaningful/in-depth understanding and therefore enhance better performance in geometry among secondary school students than the conventional lecture method. Also, the students’ performance in geometry does not differ significantly based on their gender. There was no significant difference in the interest of students taught geometry using geoboard and those taught using conventional lecture method. It was recommended in this research work that teachers and educators in Mathematics should incorporate geoboard as a purposeful and effective instructional technique and resource in teaching geometry so that students could produce better results.