Effect of Cuisenaire Rods on Students’ Performance in Solving Problems Involving Fractions
Keywords:
Cuisenaire Rods, fractions, Ghana School Curriculum, mathematicsAbstract
Fractions are an essential foundational skill for future mathematics success (NMAP, 2008). However, fractions have been one of the most difficult mathematical skills to master, for children with and without difficulties (Behr, Wachsmuth, Post, & Lesh, 1984; Hiebert, 1985; McLeod & Armstrong, 1982; Ni, 2001). With this understanding, the Ghana School Curriculum for mathematics prescribes some materials to aid the teaching of mathematics concept friendlier. This study investigated the effect of Cuisenaire rods on students’ performance in solving problems involving Fractions. The sample was divided into two groups: an Experimental group (N=50) which was taught Fractions with the use of Cuisenaire rods in addition to traditional teaching methods, and a Control group (N=50), which was taught with traditional teaching methods only. The study employed descriptive statistics such as: mean and standard deviation in Ms-excel based on the test scores obtained from both the Experimental group and the Controlled group. Comparing the mean and standard deviation scores of both group indicated that, there was a significant performance in the experimental group. The study recommends to the Ministry of Education and the Curriculum Research and Development Division (CRDD) of Ghana to consider using Cuisenaire rods in Ghana Schools especially from the basic school level since they are versatile materials in teaching many concepts in mathematics.
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