The Effect of Metacognitive Instructional Strategy on Mathematics Achievement and Retention among Secondary School Students in Ekiti State, Nigeria
Keywords:
retentive ability and Mathematics achievement, metacognitive instructional strategy, MetacognitionAbstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of using metacognitive instructional strategy on Mathematical achievement and retention. The experimental group are trained and instructed to improve their metacognitive skills while the students in the control group received no treatment but taught by the traditional method in their normal lessons. The study adopts a quasiexperimental design with a target population of all secondary school students in Ikere local government area of Ekiti state, Nigeria. The sample consists of four secondary schools that are in grade A. Intact classes are used in order to avoid disruption of school activities. The experimental group which consists of 158 students (75 males and 83 females) were trained and instructed to improve their metacognitive skills. The students in the control group (142 students of which 68 are male and 74 are female). All students involved in the study were pre, post and retentively tested with forty items of the Secondary Mathematics Achievement test (SMAT). The results indicate that students in the metacognitive treatment group significantly improved in both post and retentive tests. It is recommended among others that mathematics teachers should encourage their students on the use of metacognitive instructional strategy in order to improve their performance in Mathematics.
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