Impact of CCRI on Learners’ Achievement in Primary School Mathematics, A Case Study of Bomet East Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

Cooperative Constructivist Remedial Instruction (CCRI) is an emerging pedagogy among the teaching community across the world especially in the 21st century. However, its effect on learners’ achievement remains unknown. This innovative approach to teaching takes cognizance of both social and cognitive constructivism. Constructivism emphasizes on how the learner constructs knowledge from the experiences provided, which is unique to each individual learner. The approach gives learners the opportunity to construct knowledge in collaboration with their peers. Such an opportunity encourages them to progress to higher levels of academic achievement. Solomon’s Four Non-equivalent Control Group Design incorporating quantitative techniques was used in the study. The CCRI approach to teaching through the 5E’s learning (Engage-Explore-Explain-Elaborate-Evaluate) model was applied to Experimental Groups while the Conventional Teaching Methods (CTM) were used to teach the Control Groups where total of 211 Standard eight pupils from four randomly selected schools participated in the study. A Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) was administered as a pre-test to estimate the learner’s achievement before intervention. The intervention period lasted for five weeks. Thereafter, items in the MAT were rearranged and administered to all the four groups as a post-test to measure the impact of CCRI relative to CTM on pupils’ achievement in Mathematics. The results from the study revealed that CCRI approach significantly improved learners’ achievement in Mathematics compared to the use of CTM. Secondly CCRI approach was equally effective in improving achievement of both boys and girls in Mathematics. Their improved level of achievement in the subject is attributed to their enhanced motivation as a result of increased teacher-leaner and learner-learner interaction during lessons as advocated by CCRI approach.