The Influence of Dependent and Independent Cognitive Styles on Achievement in Mathematics among Senior Secondary School Students in Bida Educational Zone of Niger State, Nigeria
Keywords:
students’ achievement, independent cognitive style, Dependent cognitive styleAbstract
This study employed ex-post-facto design. The study investigated the influence of
dependent and independent cognitive styles on students’ achievement in
Mathematics. The study was guided by four research questions, two null
hypotheses that were tested at 0.05 levels of significant. The population consisted
of all the 40 senior secondary schools in Bida Education Zone of Niger State.
One Hundred (49 dependent and 51 independent cognitive style) students, were
drawn from the senior secondary schools, using multi-stage sampling technique,
that constituted the sample of the study. Instruments adopted for data collection
were the Student Group Embedded Figures Test (Witkin and Goodenough, 1984)
used to determine the participants’ Cognitive Styles Questionnaire (PCSQ) and
Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT). Data collected were analyzed using mean,
standard deviation and t-test. The findings of the study show that independent
cognitive style students achieved significantly higher than their dependent
cognitive style counterpart in Mathematics Achievement Test. It was also not
consistent across gender levels. Recommendations among which include, that
teachers should use independent strategies in integrating with students in the
classroom, especially in mathematics, and other science related subjects.
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