Effects of three modes of personalisation on students’ achievement in mathematical word problems in Nigeria
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Date
2011
Authors
Awofala, A. O. A.
Balogun, Taju A.
Olagunju, M. A.
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Abstract
This study investigated the effects of modes of personalisation of instruction crossed with two
levels each of verbal ability and cognitive style as moderator variables on the mathematical
word problems achievement of 450 junior secondary Nigerian students. Personalisation was
accomplished by incorporating selected information with students’ personal preferences into
their mathematics word problems content on either group basis, individual or self-referencing
format. Students were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions: self-referencing,
individual personalisation, group personalisation, and non-personalisation versions of an
instructional programme on mathematics word problems. Results showed that treatment, verbal
ability and cognitive style had significant main effects on students’ achievement in mathematical
word problems. Thus, students exposed to group personalisation performed significantly better
than those in other groups followed by individual personalisation, self-referencing, and nonpersonalisation in that order. High verbal ability students performed significantly better than
low verbal ability counterparts. Also, analytic cognitive style students significantly outscored
their non-analytic cognitive style counterparts. There were significant two-way interactions
effects of treatment and verbal ability, treatment and cognitive style, and verbal ability and
cognitive style on students’ achievement in mathematical word problems. These findings suggest
in part that group personalisation; individual personalisation and self-referencing modes
enhanced students’ achievement in mathematical word problems than the non-personalisation
strategy. This impact was however sensitive to the cognitive style and verbal ability of the
students. These findings show the need for choosing improved strategies for mathematical word
problems teaching and the recognition of the influence of verbal ability and cognitive style on
students’ achievement in mathematical word problems
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Keywords
personalisation instruction, word problems, mathematics achievement