The Impact of Problem Solving Approach on Students’ Performance in Mathematical Induction: A Case of Mukuba University

Abstract

This study was conducted to explore the impact of problem-solving approach on academic performance of students in mathematical induction at Mukuba University. The design of the study was pre-test post-test control group quasi-experimental design. The first year students enrolled in 2017 studying mathematics constituted the population of this study because mathematical induction is a topic that is taught in a first year foundation mathematics course. The sample was constituted by 40 students who were randomly selected from the population. The Sample was divided into two groups of the same size (I.e. experimental and a control). The treatment of the planned problem-solving approach is Polya’s heuristic steps of the problem-solving approach which was developed in 1945.A pretest was used to establish the equivalence and homogeneity of the two groups in aptitude whereas a posttest was used to assess the impact of the intervention on students’ performance on mathematical induction. An independent t-test was used to analyze the data at an alpha level of , which revealed that both the experimental and control groups were equivalent in mathematical competence on the basis of the pre -test . The experimental group outscored the control group significantly on the post-test; control group . Therefore, problem solving was found to have a positive impact on students’ performance in mathematical induction.

Keywords: Problem solving, performance, perceptions, first year students