Effects of Four Mode Application Technique (4-MAT) and Merrill's Instructional Models on Students' Self-Regulation and Academic Achievement in Algebra

Abstract The study investigated the effects of 4-MAT and Merrill’s instructional model on students’ self- regulation and achievement in algebra in Isi – Uzo Local Government Area, Enugu State. Two research questions were posed and two null hypotheses were formulated for the study. Quasi-experimental design, specifically, the pretest - posttest non-equivalent groups research design was used. The population of the study comprised 495 SSI students in Isi – Uzo Local Government Area. A total of 163 SSI students from four intact classes were selected from four co-educational secondary schools using multistage sampling procedure. The instruments for data collection for the study were Algebra self-regulation Scale (ASRS), Algebra Effort to learn Scale (AELS) and Algebra Achievement Test (AAT). The instruments were validated by five experts from University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The reliability of the instruments were determined using Kudder-Richardson 20 (K-R20) for AAT and Cronbach Alpha for ASRS and their indices were 0.79 and 0.79 respectively. The data collected were analyzed with SPSS version 20 to find the mean and standard deviations used for answering the research questions and ANCOVA which was used for testing the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings from the analysis indicated that 4-MAT and Merrill’s instructional model had positive effect on students’ self- regulation and achievement in algebra and students taught algebra using 4-MAT model had better mean self-regulation score than the students taught using Merrill’s model while students taught algebra using Merrill’s model had higher mean achievement score than the students taught using 4-MAT model. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that mathematics teachers should be encouraged to adopt 4-MAT and Merrill’s instructional model in the teaching of mathematics to improve students’ self- regulation and achievement.