CHAPTER FOUR

INNOVATIVE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

4.1   Introduction

According to Ameen & Salman, (2016) and Khadija (2018) that some contents in recent curriculum in mathematics are found to be difficult to be taught by some mathematics teachers and also found to be difficult to understand by students. Students recorded failure in these contents both in internal and external examinations. Recent mathematics curricula deemed tough topics include, among others, bearing, differentiation and application, geometric construction, logical reasoning, integration and applications.

Concern has been raised about mathematics education in secondary schools in Nigeria owing to pupils' persistently poor performance, which is linked to weak pedagogical tactics employed by mathematics teachers (Kajuru & Popoola, 2010). It is quite regrettable that the traditional technique employed to teach mathematics in secondary schools is teacher-centered, i.e., the instructor performs most of the talking while the students listen and take notes. They emphasized that instructional method had less of an effect on student performance. However, it is necessary to seek out instructional methods that have a favorable effect on students' performance, which affects whether they are motivated and engaged in the learning process. The need for innovative strategies in teaching mathematics and is borne out by the facts that different situations which include diagnosis and remedy of difficulty concepts and teaching topics of upper basic Mathematics curriculum, skills intended to be acquired by the learners, demands for different teaching strategies among others. Among the innovative teaching strategies to be discussed are: discovery method, team teaching, instructional scaffolding, peer-tutoring, concept mapping and cooperative learning.

4.2   Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

          i.            Explain the innovative instructional strategies, such as scaffolding, problem solving, peer tutoring, team teaching, among others

        ii.            design a lesson model for each of the strategy

      iii.            use the lesson model in teaching mathematics 

4.3   Innovative Teaching Strategies

Teaching methods have changed and demonstrated a distinct shift from a teacher-centered to a learner-centered orientation, and mathematics and students are, of course, crucial to the teaching process. NTI (2010) and Khadija (2018) have identified instructional scaffolding, discovery method, cooperative learning, problem-solving strategy, team teaching, using teaching facilities and ICT as a strategy to improve teaching and learning of mathematics as innovative pedagogical methods for improving the teaching of mathematics and the contents perceived as difficult by students. These tactics are deemed learner-centered, interest-generating, and activity-based.

4.3.1   Instructional Scaffolding

Scaffolding is a teaching strategy in which the instructor mimics the intended learning task and progressively transfers responsibility to the pupils. The teaching method is characterized as one that focuses on incrementally increasing pupils' capacities and decreasing help as they improve. This promotes active student participation in the teaching-learning process (Ahmad, 2016). The technique is learner-centered and is applicable to any subject at any level. The scaffolding method is a major component of cognitive apprenticeship, in which students grow increasingly proficient as problem-solvers through coaching, task structure, and suggestions without being directly given the solution. The instructor aids the students in doing the learning task since the teacher owns the task's control and must:

§  Assist the student in obtaining the scientific abilities you desire to teach, which is the lesson's purpose;

§  Assessing the students' prior knowledge (i.e., ZAD) via discussion and brainstorming.

§  Developing activities: identifying the next step of what the students aspire to learn and accomplish (ZPD) by group discussion and individual work.

§  Closing activities: evaluating each student individually at the conclusion of the class to evaluate whether or not they have mastered the objective.

4.3.2   Collaborative Instructional Strategy

The phrases collaborative learning and cooperative learning are equivalent and are used interchangeably. According to Kajuru and Popoola (2010), the most successful method of teaching mathematics is a cooperative instructional technique that is activity-based. It supports academic objectives and good performance, and is particularly successful in enhancing pupils' cognitive accomplishment. It has become an acceptable alternative to the old paradigm due to its significant role in enhancing the academic and social engagement of all students. The following lesson approach has been seen to expose students to collaborative learning strategies, per Ahmad (2016):

§  Opening Activity: evaluating the previous lesson, reviewing homework problems, and presenting the new assignment.

§  Development Activity: dividing students into small groups and assigning them a task; debating the response with the entire class; calling on a specified number and group of students to respond to a question.

§  Closing Activity: pupils are given homework to turn in the next class period.

4.3.3   Method of Concept Mapping

This is another method for enhancing mathematics instruction and learning. Concept mapping is a metacognitive method used to assess an individual's knowledge structure, and it is an instructional method that stimulates learners' deductive thinking. According to Khadija (2018), concept mapping is the process of creating maps or diagrams to show the links between instructional ideas. To facilitate comprehension, the concepts are organized, simplified, and grouped hierarchically from general to specialized. According to reports, the method improves critical thinking and facilitates recollection of previously taught content (Omoroh, Peace & Adiri, 2019). In addition, they emphasized that the technique is an effective learning tool for teaching mathematics since it clarifies, defines, and specifies concepts and their relationships. They emphasized the following approach for creating idea maps:

§  Record the concepts or keywords used during the lesson;

§  Arrange the concepts and main ideas in a hierarchy from general to specific;

§  Connect the concepts by arrows by linking words so that each branch of the map can be read from the top to the bottom;

§  Provide examples, if possible, at the end of each branch;

§  Cross-link hierarchies or branches where appropriate.

4.3.4   Peer Tutoring as an Approach

It is a method for diagnosing and resolving problematic mathematical concepts, and it enhances the teaching and learning of mathematics. Peer tutoring is a phrase that has been used to represent a variety of tutoring arrangements. The majority of research on peer tutoring identifies it as an instructional approach that pairs students to learn or practice an academic task. It is also the procedure between two or more students in a group in which one student acts as a tutor for the other pupils. Peer tutoring is defined by Etsu and Manko (2019) as an educational technique in which students assist one another in learning content, reinforcing abilities, or practicing a learnt activity.

There are two primary forms of peer tutoring: incidental peer tutoring (IPT) and scheduled peer tutoring (SPT) (SPT). IPT frequently takes place at school or at home while kids are playing or socializing and guiding others is considered Incidental Peer Tutoring (IPT). SPT the other hand refers to peer-tutoring implemented in specific and for specified academic tasks, following a well-defined plan created by the teacher. Multiple organized peers tutoring programs, including cross-age peer tutoring (CAPT), peer aided learning methods (PALS), same-age peer tutoring (SAPT), and class-wide peer tutoring, have been found to be helpful in teaching mathematics and physics (CWPT).

 

4.3.5   Discovery Method

As its name implies, the discovery method is a very suited approach for teaching mathematics at the secondary level. It is a tactic in which students strive to recognize their own knowledge, facts, and concepts in front of the teacher (Agwagah, 2013). Brunner's idea of discovery learning is the theoretical foundation of a problem-solving technique for science subjects, including unknown mathematical abilities, concepts, or principles, and it promotes student engagement. Through the discovery of information (concepts and ideas) on their own, a student's motivation is rewarded and their recall capacity is enhanced. Discovery-based learning facilitates comprehension of the structure of information. When one comprehends the structure of a subject, one comprehends how it relates to other subjects.

4.3.6   Problem – Solving Strategy

According to Kajuru and Popoola (2010), issue solving is a talent that demands developing unique and new solutions to recognized problems. In addition, it is the capacity to adapt useful procedures from tasks only marginally linked to the current activity and to produce potential solutions for solving known difficulties. Students in the mathematics class are actively engaged and create passion and interest for the topic. Teachers and parents play key roles in the growth and development of problem-solving abilities in society's learners. This will help students to adopt cognitive strategies for solving issues with minimal or no aid from peers or professors, and it will alter the students' attitude towards information. They view knowledge as provisional as opposed to permanent. They obtain fresh information.

4.3.7   Team Teaching

Using team teaching increases teaching and learning of Mathematics as indicated by researchers. It is an instruction that includes two or more individuals to handle task. This is contingent upon the amount of instructors instructing the topic in the classroom. There are three phases to the adoption of team teaching. These include the lecture to the entire class, the group (stream) tutorial, and the individual study. It develops the attitude of collaboration among teachers and other personnel in the school. Students are exposed to outstanding teaching since they are taught by the “expert” instructors in the school. Each student is better able to identify his position in the crowd, respect it, learn from its behavior pattern, contribute to its unity, and experience the influence of group dynamics as a result of the integration of several instructional streams.

4.3.8   Task Analysis Model as strategy

According to Opayinka, Kehinde, and Kadejo (2019), the approach is the process of methodically breaking down learning information into sub-units that range in complexity from simple to most complicated. The technique is crucial in mathematics, as well as in all other fields of study and in everyday life. In this technique, the teaching of a new concept requires the scientific instructor to be familiar with the idea's sub-units, so that students understand what they need to know and it is easier to illustrate how the activities go together. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate all sub-units that contribute to the primary notion so that it may be implemented progressively. The technique allows the instructor to analyze the student's abilities, the processes required, the curriculum's objectives, and how to assist the students' learning outcomes.

4.3.9   Programmed / computer- Assisted Instruction

It is a self-instructional method of education that enhances teaching and learning. The type of instruction that follows a sequence. This indicates that the learning information is delivered in an organized, structured, and organized manner prior to the learners beginning the activity. It is characterized by the fragmentation of learning knowledge into little pieces that progress a pupil from familiar to unfamiliar and basic to complicated. The fragments of information are given sequentially in phases. Whenever a response is correct, reinforcement gives by the immediate confirmation of the right answer or a correction of the wrong answers. The operation of programmed instruction is facilitated by two primary materials or devices. These are programmed textbook and teaching machines.

A programmed textbook is a self-instructional textbook; it is a written programme in a subject field where the subject content has been broken down into discrete learning sequence components. The programme is written as a series of easily answered questions that lead the student to logical conclusions for seen by the programmer.

The teaching machines are devices for self-instructional materials. The efficacy of the machine is dependent on the components employed. A well-designed machine presents one frame at a time, and the student controlling it brings each picture into view as required. Through programmed instruction, instruction is customized. Having individual instructors for each student is essentially equivalent. Individual variations in learning are addressed, and each student works at his or her own speed. Consequently, the learner's motivation to cover more frames is unquestionably influenced by the immediate knowledge of the outcome.

Student Activity

1.      Write briefly on the following strategies:

a.       Scaffolding b. Team teaching c. Problem solving

2.      Enumerate the types of peer-tutoring

3.      Outline the features of lesson model in cooperative learning

4.      Distinguish between team teaching and peer-tutoring

4.4   Summary

A notable characteristic of a good mathematics is willingness to learn and accept rational innovations. Mathematics teachers must recognize his/her strength and weakness and also ready to learn for innovation in teaching of mathematics. In this chapter innovative teaching of perceived difficult concepts in mathematics were enumerated and explained, to make teaching effective and easy to the learners.

References

Ahmad. M. (2016). Effect of scaffolding enriched collaborative strategy on performance,  

       retention and test-anxiety in geometry among senior secondary   school students in Niger 

       state, Nigeria. Unpublished Ph.D Thesis Faculty of Education, A.B.U. Zaria.

Agwagah, U. (2013). Improving the teaching of mathematics language on errors commitment by    

            senior secondary school students in bearing problems in Omuo- Ekiti, Nigeria. Abacus, the Journal of the Mathematics Association of Nigeria

Ameen,S.K. & Salam, M.F (2016). Perceived difficult concepts in mathematics by senior secondary school students and mathematics teachers in Ilorin, Kwara State. Ilorin Journal of Education, 35(1), 164—174.

Badmus, O.T., & Esther O.O (2018). Congruence of physics and mathematics: A seasonal consonance between facts and logic. Enhancing Mathematics Education in Nigeria, A festschrift in Honour of Professor Micheal Olubusuyi Fajemidagba.

Bawa, M.R. (2013). Resource Mobilization and Management: A Mechanism for access to quality teacher education curriculum in Nigeria secondary schools. Proceeding of Multicultural Africa Conference 2013 ABU Zaria.

   Etsu, S.M & Manko, A. U (2019). Effects of mathematics peer-tutoring strategy on geometry achievement among junior secondary school in Niger State. Abacus, the Journal of the Mathematics Association of Nigeria 1(44) 541 – 550.

Kajuru, Y.K & Popoola, F.R (2010). Pedagogical strategies for improving the teaching and

learning of mathematics at College of Agriculture in Nigeria. A Journal of Studies in Science and Mathematics Education. 1(1): 33 – 41.

Khadija, S.A(2018). Innovative instructional strategies for teaching perceived difficult topics in mathematics. A Festschrift in Honour of Prof. Michael Olubusuyi Fajemidagba

National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) (2010). Manual on education methods for the induction of newly recruited teachers in Niger State.

Opayinka, H. F., Kehinde, M.A. & Kadejo, L. (2019). Effect of task analysis on academic

          performance of visually impaired students in mathematics in Oyo. Abacus, the Journal of

          Mathematical Association of Nigeria 44(1) 492 – 499.