The Influence of the ASEI-PDSI approach on Students' views and attitudes towards mathematics instruction

Abstract

This study examined the effect of the ASEI-PDSI approach in the teaching and learning of mathematics in selected secondary schools in Vihiga County, Kenya. Two research objectives the study sought to achieve were : (i) to determine the effects of the ASEI – PDSI approach on students’ achievement in mathematics, and (ii) to determine the effect of ASEI-PDSI approach on students’ views and attitudes towards the learning and teaching of mathematics. The study was based on the information processing theoretical construct. According to this theory, the learner during instruction is involved in active information processing that engages him/her to directly attend to the stimulus conditions and using his thought processes acts and reacts to the information. The approach embraces the three principles of active learning; hands-on activities, minds-on and mouths-on activities. Questionnaires, interview schedules and video recordings were used to collect information from the subjects. In the study, a total of 152 subjects were randomly assigned to four groups. The study was a true experimental research design based on Solomon Four-Fold design. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of using the ASEI-PDSI approach on form one secondary school students’ views and attitudes in mathematics and their subsequent achievement. Students perform poorly in topics that require ‘doing practical work’ like constructions and drawing. As a result, this study used Basic Geometric Constructions to test students awareness and familiarity with the hands-on, minds-on and mouths-on activities. The control group was kept under a control condition by providing traditional competitive situation in class while the experimental group was provided with the ASEI-PDSI approach as treatment. The academic achievement of the control and experimental groups was examined through a post-test. In the experimental groups, one group was pretested, treated then post-tested while the other one was only treated then post-tested. In the control groups, one group was pretested then post-tested while the other one was only post-tested.  The findings showed that the ASEI-PDSI had a significant effect on students’ achievement. It was found out that students taught through the ASEI-PDSI approach had a better view and attitude towards mathematics than those taught through the traditional approaches. The study recommends that teachers should apply the ASEI-PDSI approach in their teaching to help students be actively involved in the lesson to have a better understanding and interest in the subject.

Keywords: ASEI-PDSI approach, Activity, Instruction, Attitude and Hands-on.