Abstract:

The Main purpose of this study was to investigate the separate and combined effects of counseling interventions, gender and mode of schooling on senior secondary school student’s achievement in mathematics. A 2x4x2 quasi - experimental factorial design (non – randomized control group pretest - posttest design) was adopted to conduct the investigation.

Four instruments were used to carry out the study. Two of the instruments were adapted from Bakere’s Study habit Inventory ( SHI) and Academic Need Achievement scale (ANAS) . The other two were self constructed achievement tests in mathematics. Four secondary schools were randomly selected from two local government areas of Kwara state in Nigeria. The schools were randomly assigned to three experimental and one control groups. One hundred and seventy one (171) students (86 boys, 85 girls) participated in the study. There were three treatment groups comprising of improved study Habit (T1), Enhanced Need Achievement (T2), Improved Study Habit plus Enhanced need Achievement (T3) and the control group (T4). The treatment lasted for a period of six weeks with the assistance of the school counselors using the designed packages. Data were collected with pre-achievement tests in mathematics and mathematics Achievement test. Descriptive statistics, Analysis of covariance and multiple classifications Analysis were employed in analyzing the data. Six hypotheses were generated and tested for the study. The major findings include the following: The group treated with a combination of Improved Study Habit and Enhanced Need Achievement (T3) performed best among the groups. The Enhanced Need Achievement group (T2) performed better than the improved study Habit group (T1) There was no significant effect of mode of schooling on students achievement in mathematics. There was no significant interaction effect among the pairwise comparison of the three variables on students achievement. Possible explanations of these findings and their implications for mathematics education were discussed. Based on the findings, recommendations for the improvement of mathematics teaching and learning were proffered. These recommendations include the followings that, counseling should be given appropriate place in the secondary school curriculum. Gender discrimination should be discouraged in the study of mathematics. Mode of schooling should not be emphasized in the study of mathematics. Mathematics teaching and learning could be improved if teachers have better psychological knowledge of their pupils through workshops, seminars and in- service training in addition to their knowledge of contents.

Keywords:

Study habits, Need – achievement, Mode of Schooling.