EFFECT OF MATHEMATICAL GAMES ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MATHEMATICS IN ABAJI COUNCIL AREA OF FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJA.

The study investigated the effect of mathematical games (Algebraic Substitution Game) on academic achievement of senior secondary school students in mathematics (Algebraic Processes) in Abaji Council Area of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The study adopted quasi-experimental design (pretest-posttest). The sample of one hundred and twenty-three (123) senior secondary one (SS1) students made up of sixty-nine (69) males and fifty-four (54) females, drawn from two selected secondary schools out of five senior secondary schools. Tossing of a coin was used to randomly assign intact classes to experimental and control groups. A Pre-MAT was conducted before the treatment to establish the students‟ level of achievement. The students in the control and experimental groups obtained mean scores of 41.38 and 41.47 respectively. Data were generated using Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT). The instrument was subjected to expert‟s judgment for validation. A logical validity index of 0.85 was obtained by an expert. The reliability coefficient of 0.84 was obtained for MAT. The generated data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to answer the research questions and t-test inferential statistics was used to test the null hypotheses at the .05 level of significance. The findings revealed that the students taught with game method had a greater mean score of 61.12 than their counterpart taught with conventional method with a mean score of 45.38. Also, the result of hypothesis testing revealed that there was significant difference between the students taught with mathematical game method and their counterparts taught with conventional method since t-calculated value (5.28) was greater than t-critical value (1.96). Female students had higher mean score of 76.25 than the male students with mean score of 58.53. Thus, the hypothesis showed that gender had significant influence on students‟ achievement since t-calculated value (3.57) was greater than t-critical value (2.01). Based on the findings, it was recommended that teachers should use appropriate games to introduce new concepts and to engage students in the teaching and learning of mathematics in the classrooms.