Effect of Teachers' Subject and Pedagogical Knowledge on Junior Secondary School Students' Academic Performance in Mathematics

Abstract

Mathematics teachers with National Certificates in Education (NCE) qualification teaching at junior secondary schools must have a curtained level of subject and pedagogical knowledge to teach mathematical concepts effectively. This study aimed to determine how much mathematics teachers’ subject and pedagogical knowledge can improve junior secondary school students' performance in Nigeria. Using a quasi-experimental design, a sample of 70 Mathematics teachers with NCE qualifications and 480 students from 16 secondary schools were selected purposively. The data collection instruments, namely the Teachers' Subject Knowledge Test, Teachers' Pedagogical Knowledge Assessment, and Students’ Mathematics Education with a reliability coefficient of 0.75. Data was collected using t-test statistics at 0.05 significant levels. From the result obtained, the mean scores of teachers with high subject knowledge were statistically significantly different from those of teachers with high pedagogical knowledge. The mean score of students of teachers with low pedagogical knowledge was higher than that of students of teachers with low subject knowledge. The National Commission for Colleges of Education in Nigeria should formulate and enhance curriculum content for mathematics courses at our colleges of education in order to produce NCE graduates with excellent subject and pedagogical skills who can effectively teach in our secondary schools.