A Study of Pedagogical Approaches of Mathematics Teaching in Southwestern States of Nigeria

Experimental research works on mathematics teaching methodology abound. These efforts were to minimize teaching-learning difficulties and poor learning outcomes of the students. Incidentally, most of the ‘beautiful’ research reports have not received feedback from users simply because survey research on this is rare. This study filled the gap by examining various teaching methods and strategies been used in the teaching of Mathematics in secondary schools of southwestern Nigeria. An elegant and indirect approach was adopted in doing this. Multistage sampling approach was used to select the 117 mathematics teachers involved in the study. The study gave an empirical evidence that lecture method is commonly used in the teaching of content of Mathematics curriculum due to lack of adequate instructional materials and teachers unskilfulness in the use of other methods and strategies. Recommendations were made on how to get the instructional materials and train the teachers on the use of other effective methods and on the handling of these materials to improve learning outcomes.