Effects of Laboratory Instructional Approach on Senior Secondary Students' Achievement in Mensuration in Ankpa Education Zone, Kogi State, Nigeria

This study was designed to investigate the effects of laboratory instructional approach (LIA) on senior secondary students’ achievement in mensuration in Ankpa Education Zone, Kogi State, Nigeria. The design of the study was quasi-experimental research design, specifically, non- equivalent pre-test post-test control group design. Three research questions and three hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. One hundred and seventeen (117) SSI students participated in the study out of a total population of 1657 SSI students in public secondary schools using a simple random sampling technique. Two schools were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups respectively. The 61 students in the experimental group were exposed to the use of laboratory instructional approach while the conventional method was used for the 56 students in the control group. One instrument - Circle Achievement Test (CAT) was adopted. Research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The results revealed that students taught mensuration using laboratory instructional approach had higher mean achievement than their counterparts in the control group. Since the use of laboratory instructional approach enhanced students' achievement, new mathematics curriculum that aimed at mathematics learning interesting such as laboratory instructional approach be recommended.