PROBLEM SOLVING INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY (PSIS) AND SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS IN QUADRATIC EQUATION IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

The study investigated the effects of Problem Solving Instructional Strategy (PSIS) on senior secondary school students’ academic achievements in Mathematics. The design of the study was quasi experimental which adopted pre-test post-test non equivalent control group design. The sample consisted of 94 (48 males and 46 females) senior secondary one (SS1) students drawn through multi stage sampling technique. Three research questions and three   hypotheses guided the study. Quadratic Equation Achievement Test (QEAT) was used as instrument for data collection while lesson plan on problem solving instructional strategy developed by the researcher was used for experimental treatment. The instruments were face and content validated by three experts and also trial tested. The item analysis was conducted on QEAT in order to fully standardize the instrument. The reliability of QEAT was established using Kuder Richardson formula 20 (KR-20) which yielded reliability coefficient of 0.94 considered high enough for the study. The data collected from the field were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Mean, standard deviation was used to answer the research questions while t- test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 alpha levels. The results indicated among others that the PSIS have significant effect on students’ achievement scores in quadratic equations; gender and school location has significant effect on students’ achievement scores in quadratic equations. Based on the findings of the study, it was therefore recommended among others that Mathematics teachers should employ the use of problem solving instructional strategy in mathematics classroom so that teaching and learning of mathematics will be student centred