CONTROLLING INFORMATION LOAD THROUGH PRE-LECTURE ASSIGNMENTS AND STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS AT SECONDARY LEVEL

Various studies in the past explored a positive correlation between information load and students’ understanding difficulties. In topics where the thought steps exceeded the working memory limit the performance collapsed quite spectacularly. The capacity of this part of the brain is determined genetically fixed. However, the room for efficient use of this part is open largely through experience. In this study pre-learning strategy was practiced to minimize the load on working memory in order to improve students’ understanding in mathematics. To follow the strategy, twenty pre-lectures were developed from year 9 and 10 mathematics textbooks followed by twenty post-tests. A sample of 212 students was taken from two FG schools in Peshawar Cantt. The outcome was focused in terms of understanding rather memorization. No changes were made in the curriculum content, time allocation and the teachers. The results depicted significant improvement in students’ performance in the stipulated topics. The results are consistent with previous studies in very different contexts, which highlighted significant importance of pre-learning practice