Development and Assessment of Upper Basic Students’ Conceptual Understanding of Mathematics Knowledge Using Two-Tier Diagnostic Test in Kogi State, Nigeria

Abstract

Assessment of students’ mathematics learning outcomes and instruments used in measuring the learning outcome are fundamental to the teaching and learning process of mathematics at the upper basic level of education. This study investigated development and assessment of upper basic students’ conceptual understanding of mathematics knowledge using two-tier diagnostic test in Kogi State Nigeria. The study adopted instrumentation design, the population of the study were all the (50, 851 upper basic students of Kogi state. The sample consist 668 upper basic students which were selected using multistage sampling techniques. Two-Tier Mathematics Diagnostic Test (TTMDT) was developed by the researchers in three stages. the instrument TTMDT was trial tested on students outside the target population to establish the reliability of the instrument. Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 was used to measure the internal consistency reliability of the instrument. Data collected were analyzed quantitatively using frequency counts and percentages as well as descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions. The hypotheses were tested using t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted partial credit model in scoring. The findings of the study indicates that two-tier diagnostic test is valid and reliable to distinguish students who understand the concepts from those who misunderstood, and with the use of Rasch analysis two-tier test items could be improved upon by rewording items that showed anomalies base on the individual-item fit. It was recommended that teachers should adopt two-tier diagnostic test in assessing their students in Mathematics.

Keywords: Development, Two-Tier, Conceptual Understanding, Upper Basic, Diagnostic Test.