THE IMPACT OF THE USE OF THE PROBLEM-SOLVING APPROACH IN LINKING CLASSROOM MATHEMATICS TO REAL-LIFE ACTIVITIES ON LEARNERS’ PERFORMANCE

Seth Amoako Atta; Samuel Asiedu Addo; Emmanuel Asemani

THE IMPACT OF THE USE OF THE PROBLEM-SOLVING APPROACH IN LINKING CLASSROOM MATHEMATICS TO REAL-LIFE ACTIVITIES ON LEARNERS’ PERFORMANCE

Authors

Seth Amoako Atta
Professor Samuel Asiedu Addo
Emmanuel Asemani

Keywords:

Polya’s Problem Solving Approach, Traditional instruction, Control class Experimental group, contextualized problems

Abstract

The study aimed to determine the impact of using the Problem-solving approach to link classroom mathematics to daily life activities on learners’ performance. The constructivist theory and Polya's problem-solving approach were employed to create a link between classroom mathematics and real-life mathematical perspective. A sample of two intact classes comprising 101 students was used for the study. The control class received the traditional instruction, while the experimental class was treated with the designed intervention. The results indicated a statistically significant improvement in the post-test of the Experimental Group. It is recommended that teachers should endeavour to use the problem-solving approach in teaching to enhance learners' performance.