Comparing the effects of two inquiry-based teaching strategies on secondary students’ conceptual understanding and achievement in mathematics: A mixed-methods approach

• Author / Creator

  Charles, Christopher

• In a recent study conducted in the Commonwealth of Dominica, Charles (2015) concluded that Dominican secondary mathematics teachers do not sufficiently expose students to inquiry-based approaches in teaching mathematics. One inquiry-based approach to teaching mathematics is through Investigations (Jaworski, 1986). A second inquiry-based approach is through learners’ generating examples called Exemplification (Watson & Mason, 2005). Exemplification, however, has not yet taken root at the secondary level; thus, its effectiveness at that level is still questionable. This study investigated and compared the effects that Investigation and Exemplification had on secondary students’ achievement and conceptual understanding of the three primary trigonometric ratios.

  A pre-test–post-test, randomized, experimental design was used in this study. Thirty-five fourth form (grade 10) students from one secondary school in Dominica were randomly assigned to two groups. The researcher taught both groups for three weeks; one group using Investigation and the other using Exemplification. A mixed-methods approach was used to analyze students’ responses on the pre-test and post-test to give measures of their achievement and conceptual understanding.

  The study found that both the group taught by Investigation and the group taught by Exemplification had a statistically significant increase in achievement. It also found that the achievement for the group taught by Exemplification was statistically significantly higher than that of the group taught by Investigation. The study also found that the group taught by Exemplification had attained a higher level of conceptual understanding compared to the group taught by Investigation. The study recommended the use of both Investigation and Exemplification in Dominican secondary schools as a possible way of improving students’ mathematics success in CSEC examinations.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Inquiry-based teaching
  • Mixed methods
  • Mathematical investigation
  • Achievement
  • Conceptual understanding
  • Exemplification
  • Learners generating examples

• Graduation date

  Spring 2020

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-r5p5-6x61

• License

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