Relationship Between Learning Setting, Ability And Achievement In Mathematics Among Male Secondary School Students In Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract

Abstract: Learning settings can be established using students of different ability levels namely; high ability, medium ability and low ability. The learning settings may have students of similar or mixed ability and this may affect their achievement on mathematics tasks. The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between learning setting, ability and the interaction between ability and learning setting. A factorial research design was used in the study. The independent variables were learning setting and ability level. The dependent variable was achievement in mathematics test. The population of the study consisted of 240 Form Three students from a public boys’ secondary school. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 48 students. The stratifying criterion was the ability level across streams. Findings of the study indicated that student ability had a significant effect on achievement in mathematics (p˂.05). However learning setting did not have a significant effect on performance in mathematics (p˃.05). The interaction between learning setting and ability did not have a statistically significant effect on achievement in mathematics (p˃.05). The findings are of significance to teachers, educational policy makers, test developers and test