EFFECT OF COLLABORATIVE CONCEPT MAPPING TEACHING STRATEGY ON STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENT AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KENYA

Achievement level in Mathematics in Secondary Schools in Kenya is still low despite numerous interventions. Conceptual understanding and attitudes have emerged in recent discoveries as the critical factors contributing to the continued inertia in performance in the subject. This study sought to establish the effect of Collaborative Concept Mapping (CCM) teaching strategy on secondary school students’ development of cognitive and affective domain. Specifically, the study sought to find out if there was any difference in Students’ achievement in mathematics, as a group and gender wise, and students’ attitude toward Mathematics subject when taught using the Collaborative Concept Mapping Teaching Strategy and the Conventional Methods of Instruction. The theoretical framework is based on constructivist theory which views learners as active constructors of meaning from input by processing it through existing cognitive structures and retaining it in the long-term memory. This study used a Quasi-experimental Solomon Four-Fold research design. The sample for the study comprised 161 form three students and 4 teachers of mathematics from 4 randomly selected sub-county co-educational secondary schools in the 4 sub-counties of Bomet County. The four co-educational schools were randomly assigned into two experimental (E₁ & E₂) and two control (C₁ & C₂) groups. Students in the experimental group were taught using Collaborative Concept Mapping (CCM) Teaching Strategy for three weeks while the control group was taught using Conventional Methods of Instruction. Students’ Attitude Towards Mathematics Questionnaire (SATMQ) was used to collect data. Circles Concept Achievement Test (CCAT) was administered to determine students’ conceptual understanding and achievement on the topic of ‘circles concept’ in Mathematics. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in data analysis which included frequencies, mean, t-test and ANOVA. All the statistical tests were subjected to a test of significance at alpha (α) level of 0.05. The results revealed that there was statistically significant difference in mathematics achievement and attitudes towards mathematics in favour of CCM between students exposed to Collaborative Concept Mapping teaching strategy (CCM) and those taught using Conventional Method of Instruction. The findings further revealed that there was no statistically significant gender difference among students exposed to CCM teaching strategy. From the findings it can be concluded that the level of achievement in the learning of mathematical concepts and the attitude towards mathematics is marked higher when the students are taught using the Collaborative Concept Mapping Teaching Strategy (CCM) than when the conventional method is employed. Based on the findings, recommendations were made on the need for teachers to integrate Collaborative Concept Mapping Teaching Strategy (CCM) teaching strategy in the mathematics instruction to enhance conceptual understanding, improve achievement and foster positive attitude in the subject. There is also need for teacher training institutions to incorporate CCM as one of the strategies in mathematics instruction and that the serving teachers can be retooled to enable them to integrate CCM teaching strategy effectively in Mathematics learning. Mathematics curriculum developers need to restructure and integrate CCM among learner-centred strategies in Mathematics education.