Effects of Clues-Based Strategy on Students' Achievement in Mathematics among Secondary Schools in Yenagoa Metropolis of Bayelsa State

The study examined the effects of a clues-based strategy on students’ achievement in mathematics among secondary schools in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, with gender considered as a variable of interest. In this strategy, students are given different sorts of clues that support them in exploring approaches, perspectives and alternatives to obtain the desired answers, rather than being told what they need to learn. A purposive sampling technique was used to select two schools, and from them a sample of 102 senior secondary 2 students was drawn to participate in the research which used a pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design. The students in the two schools were randomly assigned as experimental and control groups and taught using the clues-based strategy and modified lecture method, respectively for five weeks. A Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) with reliability of 0.86 using the Kuder-Richardson Formula 21 (KR-21), and two instructional guides were used in the study. The mean, standard deviation and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were used for analysis. The findings of this study showed that students taught with the clues-based strategy significantly outperformed those taught with the modified lecture method, and that gender did not affect the students’ achievement in mathematics. Amongst others, it was recommended that the clues-based strategy be adopted to teach mathematics to secondary school students, especially when teaching the application of mathematics concepts to real-life situations.