STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN BUSINESS MATHEMATICS AMONG BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS OF STATE-OWNED UNIVERSITIES IN RIVERS STATE.

This study determined suitable strategies for improving academic performance in business mathematics among business education students in Rivers State owned universities. Three research questions and three null hypotheses guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. Population of the study consisted of all 57 business educators from the two state-owned universities in the state, namely; Rivers State University and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port-Harcourt. The entire population was studied without sampling because the size was small and manageable structured questionnaire with five-point scale was the instrument for data collection. The instrument was face validated by three experts, two from business education and one from measurement of evaluation. A reliability coefficient of 0.79 was obtained which is high through test-retest method. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions while t-test was used to test null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study revealed that each of the three strategies in the study, namely; teaching methods, teamwork and student study habits improves academic performance of business education students in business mathematics to a large extent. Based on the findings and conclusion of the study, it was recommended among others that business educators should teach business mathematics using simple to complex approach, involve students in group assignments and help students to develop effective personal study habits