GEOGEBRA INSTRUCTION SOFTWARE AND ITS EFFECT ON STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN MATHEMATICS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF KAKAMEGA CENTRAL SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Mathematical knowledge and understanding is important not only for scientific progress and development but also for its day-to-day application in social sciences and arts, government, business and management studies as well as household chores. But the general performance in school mathematics in Kenya has been poor over the years. There is evidence that students have problems in understanding and interrelating the symbols and special language structure as used in mathematics. Broad curricula, lack of facilities and inadequate staffing were always cited as the major causes of the problem. Although dismal performance in the subject had almost been accepted as the norm in some schools, the Ministry of Science, Education and technology (MoEST) and other stakeholders felt there had to be an intervention. The study sought to explore the effectiveness of using Geogebra Instruction Software as a pedagogical tool in secondary school mathematics, as contrasted to conventional teaching methods on student’s performance in mathematics scores and their creativity. The study was carried out in a real classroom setting that involved comparisons between the treatment and control groups. A Quasi-experimental nonequivalent Solomon- Four fold research design employed involved eight secondary schools in Kakamega Central Sub-County. A total of 20 teachers of mathematics and 240 form two students’, randomly sampled (using proportionate stratified random sampling) were enrolled in four intact classes from the selected schools and exposed to the similar contents on the topic of transformations for a period of two weeks. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Descriptive statistics involved the use of means and standard deviations while inferential statistics involved an analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings of the study showed that the computer instructional software Geogebra as an instruction medium was superior to the conventional methods as regards the students’ creativity, attitude and achievements in mathematics at secondary school level. Based on these findings, the researcher recommends that; for quality and optimum learning to occur in present times, an effective instructional approach that the 21st century mathematics teacher should embrace is computer based instructional software. This method not only enhances mastery of content but also improves on learners’ retention rate and increases their involvement in