Using guided discovery method to minimize students’ difficulties in solving word problems involving linear equations in one variable

Abstract

The study was designed to examine whether guided discovery approach to teaching mathematical word problems would improve the performance of senior high school students of Jachie Pramso Senior High School in the Bosomtwe District of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The research was to determine the impact of guided discovery learning on senior high school students' performance when solving word problem into mathematical statements or equations. The study adopted a mixedmethod approach comprising qualitative and quantitative research methods as well as quasi-experimental design. The researcher used both purposive and simple random sampling techniques to select one hundred (100) participants: fifty (50) participants for the control group and fifty (50) participants for the experimental group. The data collection instruments used in the study was interview, pre-test and post-test. Analysis of data was carried out using descriptive statistics and independent samples t-test. The study found that 25 (25%) of the participants had conceptual difficulty in translating word problems into mathematical statements. Also, 27 (27%) of the participants had procedural difficulty in their quest to translate the word problems into mathematical statements or equations as contained in the pre-test. Moreover, few of the participants, 8(8%) experienced logical structure difficulty in translating word problems into mathematical statements or equations. It was noted that 10(10%) of the participants were not able to correctly contextualize the relationships involved in the word problems administered to them. Lastly, a critical examination of the scripts of the participants revealed that 30(30%) were not able to utilize the concept of variables in translating the word problems into mathematical statements or equations. The independent samples t-test analysis of the post-test scores for the experimental and control groups revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the experimental group (M = 24.80; SD = 9.48) and the control group (M = 20.65; SD = 7.67). The estimated t-statistic was (t = 2.986; p = 0.005). This shows that the experimental group taught with the guided-discovery method outperformed the control group taught without the guided-discovery method. The analysis of the interview data indicated that guide-discovery method has contributed to the success of students‟ achievement in the word problems by arousing and sustaining the student‟s interest. The guided-discovery also made it easier for students to follow the instruction. GES should ensure that mathematics instructors get thorough in-service training in guided-discovery and its application in order to enhance good practices in the mathematics classroom. Pre-service teacher education should include considerable practice in fundamental and higher-order mathematical process abilities so that new teachers are more confident in their abilities to use guided-discovery method when teaching mathematics.