EFFECT OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATAGY ON ACHIEVEMENT AND RETENTION IN MATHEMATICAL ECONOMICS AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NASARAWA STATE

This study investigated the effect of cooperative learning strategy on achievement and retention in mathejnatical economics among senior secondary students in Nasarawa State. The study is a quasi-experimental design, of pretest, posttest and post posttest control group research design. The subjects consisted of senior secondary school II students of economics from Doma and Lafia LGAs of the State. The sample consisted of 80 subjects of two intact classes randomly sampled and assigned to experimental and control groups, drawn from two schools. One group was exposed to cooperative learning, and the other to lec ure method. Mathematical Economics Achievement Test (MEAT), consisting of 50 items multiple choice achievement test, was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics of means curd standard deviations was used to answer the research questions while analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was applied to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that the students performed better when taught with cooperative learning strategy in secondary schools. Findings and implications were discussed and recommendations made.