Teachers Teaching Strategies and Students Performance in Senior Secondary Schools Mathematics in Ilorin, Nigeria

This study investigated teachers teaching strategies and students performance in Mathematics at senior secondary schools. Specifically, the focus of the study was to determine the impact of simulation teaching method in relation to students gender and scoring levels in relation to performance in Mathematics. The sample consisted of 68 Senior School 1 students, comprising 33 males and 35 females, from two selected public schools in Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara State. The research was a quasi-experimental type of 2 x 2 x 3 factorial design and the main instrument used for data collection was Mathematics Academic Performance Test which consisted of 5-item theory questions on Simple equations and Variation drawn from West Africa Senior School Certificate Mathematics Examinations past questions. Three research questions were raised and answered while the three corresponding hypotheses were also tested. The findings of the study revealed a significant difference in favour of those exposed to simulation method compared to those not taught using simulation method. Though, the male students performed better than their female counterparts, results from this study have also shown that the simulation teaching strategy was beneficial to all ability levels irrespective of the academic standard of the members of such groupings, but more relevant at improving weak students academic performance. Hence, it was recommended among other things that simulation method of teaching can be adopted in teaching not only simple equations and variation but also to teach other concepts of mathematics.