Project BT: An Intervention in Mathematics for Grade one Pupils

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Grade one pupils in San Roque Elementary School has been poorly performing in Mathematics during their quarterly assessment for the past three years due to this alarming result the researchers implemented "Project BT" (Project Brain Train), an intervention to help the grade one pupils to do better in Mathematics. This intervention focused on practicing the least mastered skill in Mathematics. This research is anchored to the principle of learning (Law of Exercise) by Edward Lee Thorndike which states that constant practice will lead to the mastery of the skill.

METHODS

The researchers made use of a pretest-posttest experimental design in gathering and treating the data concerning Project BT and the performance of grade one pupils in Mathematics. The main instrument that was used in this study was a teacher-made pretest and post-test. The test includes thirty (30) items which are about the least mastered skill in Mathematics for grade one, then researchers compared the scores of the pupils to know if Project BT is an effective way to improve the performance of the grade one pupils in Mathematics.

RESULTS

Pretest result shows that most of the grade one pupils got a score between 6 to 10. The highest score obtained by the pupil was 23 out of 30 items while the lowest score obtained was 1 out of 30 items. This indicates that grade one pupils have poor performance in Mathematics while in the post-test result most of the grade one pupils got a score between 16 to 20. The highest score obtained by the pupil was 28 out of 30 items while the lowest score obtained was 1 out of 30 items. The mean score of the group during the pretest was 12.48 while the mean score in post-test was 17.78. Using correlated t-test the computed p-value was 0.000 which is lower than the level of significance which only indicates that using "Project BT" will improve the performance of grade one pupils in Mathematics.

DISCUSSIONS

The results show that the grade one pupils better after exposing them to "Project BT". This only means that the intervention implemented is an effective way of helping the grade one to do better in Mathematics. This also means that if the skills in Mathematics are repeatedly practiced by the pupils/students the higher the chance that the skills will be remembered and if they stopped practicing those skills there is a possibility that they will forget those skills in Mathematics. Future researchers may also test "Project BT" to other grade level and learning areas that need improvement.