Effect of Assignment and Socratic Methods on Students’ Achievement in Business Mathematics among Colleges of Education in North-Western Nigeria

Abstract

The aim of the study was to find out the effect of assignments and Socratic methods on students’ achievement in business mathematics in colleges of education in north-west Nigeria. The research design adopted for this study was a quasi-experiment design. The population for the study comprises 684 business mathematics students for the 2022-2023 academic session. The purposeful sampling technique was used in the selection of the three colleges for the experiment. Mean, standard deviation, and mean difference were used to answer the three research questions. An independent t-test was used to test all the null hypotheses. Students taught business mathematics using the Socratic method performed better than those taught using the lecture teaching method. (P-value 0.000). Students taught business mathematics using the assignment method performed better than those taught using the conventional teaching method. (P-value 0.002). Students taught business mathematics using the Socratic method performed better than those taught using the assignment teaching method. (P-value 0.000). The findings revealed that the Socratic method is the more effective method of teaching business mathematics than the assignment, and conventional teaching methods had a significant effect on students’ achievement in business mathematics. Based on the findings, it was recommended that teachers of business mathematics should adopt the Socratic method in their classes because the method is capable of improving students learning outcomes.