Secondary School Students’ Learning Style, Achievement Motivation and Gender as Predictors of Mathematics Achievement in Imo State

Abstract

The learning style, achievement motivation and gender as predictors of mathematics achievement were examined. Four research questions guided the study and four null hypotheses were tested. The study adopted a correlation survey design. A total of 882 (486 males and 396 females) senior secondary 2 students from 14 out of 124 secondary schools in Owerri Education Zone of Imo State were involved in the study. The researchers used simple random sampling technique to draw the sample. The instruments used for data collection were Barsch Learning Style Inventory (BLSI) and Achievement Motivation Scale (AMS). The cumulative average scores of students’ results were used as their academic achievement scores.  The instruments were validated by experts. The reliability was established using Cronbach Alpha which was found to be 0.85 and 0.81 respectively for BLSI and AMS. The data collected were analysed using correlation coefficient and multiple regression with the aid of SPSS version 20. The findings of the study revealed that learning style significantly predicts students’ achievement in mathematics irrespective of gender. The findings also showed that achievement motivation does not significantly predict female students’ achievement in mathematics but significantly predicts male students’ mathematics achievement. The study recommended that Mathematics teachers should be trained on the strategies which are related to the learning styles and achievement motivation and at the same time help students to belief in their own capability.