The Revealing Aftermath of Mathematical Terms' Simplification on Pedagogy and Performance in Public Secondary Schools in Ekiti State

The study investigated the aftermath of mathematical terms’ simplification on pedagogy and performance which is quite revealing as an academic discovery and rewarding as pedagogical strategy. The research sought to observe the extent to which the simplification of Mathematical terms could facilitate comprehension, enhance better performance and facelift mathematical pedagogy. This becomes necessary because of the different meanings students attach to some mathematical terms which invariably result in wrong answers. The researcher identified some mathematical terms that were taught in the experimental group in a simpler term while the teaching in the control group was done conventionally. The study compared the performance of students in the experimental group with the performance of students in the control group to determine the effect of treatment on students’ performance in Mathematics. The study adopted the quasi-experimental research design of the pre-test, post-test control group design. The population comprised all Junior Secondary School Class II students in public secondary schools in Ado, Ekiti State. The sample consisted of 400 Junior Secondary School students selected from two public secondary schools in Ado Ekiti using multi-stage sampling technique. The experimental group was exposed to Mathematical terminologies simplification strategy. The control group was taught conventionally. Two null hypotheses were generated. The instrument used to collect data was Mathematics Performance Test (MPT). The instrument was subjected to intensive screening by experts for validation. Hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. t-test was used to analyse hypotheses. The results of the study showed that there was significant difference between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of the students in the experimental group, while the pre-test and post-test mean scores of the control group showed less difference. It was found that there was significant difference in the post-test of the experimental and control groups. The results showed that simplification of mathematical terminologies could improve students’ performance in Mathematics. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that Mathematics teachers should simplify Mathematical terms to the level that students will have the understanding of what is expected of them. Teachers of Mathematics should set questions with simple words that the students of a particular level will be able to interpret. The writers of the recommended Mathematics texts should be instructed by the Ministry of Education to create space for and interpret difficult words on every topic.

Keywords: Mathematical Language, simplification, comprehension, facilitation, performance,