"Performance in Basic Calculus through Gamification of the Grade 11 Students"

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

This study aims to determine the effect of games on the performance of Grade 11 Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students in Basic Calculus in Tabaco National High School. The performance of the control and experimental groups in the pre-test and post-test was tested along: determining the relationship between differentiability and continuity of a function; deriving the differentiation rules; and applying the differentiation rules in computing the derivative of an algebraic, exponential, and trigonometric functions.

METHODS

This study is experimental in nature. Pre-test post-test design was employed in this study as atool in data gathering. The test was composed of thirty (30) items and prorated equally to the three topics covered by this study. This was given to the control and experimental group before and after the treatment. The performance level of the control and experimental groups were determined by getting the mean of the scores and percentage. To test the significant difference in the performance of the two groups in the pre-test and post-test, t-test was utilized.

RESULTS

In the pre-test, the control group obtained a mean score of 6.40 with the performance level of 21.33% while the experimental group got a mean score of 6.79 with 22.63% performance level with variances of 1.12 and 1.17 respectively. The results arrived at a t-value of 1.48, which is less than the t-critical value of 1.69 at 0.05 level of significance. It means that the performance of the two groups was the same in the pre-test. After the intervention post-test was administered to the two groups, results showed that the control group got a mean score of 23.34 with a performance level of 77.80% while the experimental group obtained a mean score of 25.72 with 85.73% performance level with variances of 2.05 and 2.71 respectively. The results obtained a t-value of 6.53 which is higher than the t-critical value of 1.69 at 0.05 level of significance. This implies that there is a significant difference in the performance of the groups in the post-test.

DISCUSSIONS

Based on the foregoing results, it was recommended that appropriate games and puzzles be included by Mathematics teachers in teaching so that students may be provided with more interesting and practical experience to attain the optimum performance of the learners. Further, lesson studies may be conducted by Mathematics teachers to further improve the delivery of the instruction especially when using games in teaching.