Cooperative Learning with Manipulatives and Students’ Performance in Mathematics Problem Solving

Abstract

The use of manipulatives in teaching mathematics has been identified to have a significant improvement on students’ understanding of mathematical concepts as well as their interest in their studies and subsequently their performance. Studies have examined the impact of this method on students’ performance in mathematics in general little data is available on how cooperative learning with manipulatives learning affects learners’ performance in mathematics problem-solving skills. Hence this study was to assess the effect of cooperative learning (CPL) with manipulatives on students’ performance in mathematics problem-solving skills. The study employed a quasi-experimental research design. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to select eighty Junior High School students from a public school in Asikuma Odoben Brakwa District in the Central Region of Ghana. Mathematics Non-Routine Achievement Test (MNRAT) and an interview guide were used to gather primary data from the participants. Descriptive statistics and an independent t-test at P≤ 0.05 level of significance were used to analyzed the data gathered from the field. The findings of the study indicated that students taught cooperatively with or without manipulatives outperformed students taught utilizing the lecture technique with or without manipulatives and no discernible differences were found between males and females in their performance (with and without the use of manipulatives).  The study therefore recommends that, the use of cooperative teaching and learning strategies integrated with manipulatives should be encouraged and adopted in schools by educational bodies, mathematics educators and teachers through workshops, seminars, in-service training and conferences on the importance and how to employ cooperative teaching and learning strategies with manipulatives to enhance Junior High School learners’ social and interactive participation, critical thinking, logical reasoning, effective communication and problem-solving skills in mathematics

Keywords: Cooperative teaching and learning strategy, manipulatives, lecture method, mathematics problem-solving skills, students’ performance in mathematics

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-19-01

Publication date:July 31^st 2023