MATHEMATICS TEACHERS’ CONCEPTIONS ABOUT LINEAR AND QUADRATIC EQUATIONS

The purpose of this study was to determine secondary school mathematics teachers’ conceptions about linear and quadratic equations. Six research questions and four null hypotheses guided this study. The study was conducted in Ika education zone of Delta-state. The sample was 124 secondary school mathematics teachers. Instrument for Data collection was a questionnaire titled linear and quadratic equation questionnaire (LQEQ). Descriptive analysis involving means and standard deviations were used to answer the research questions while Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-test were used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that mathematics teachers have various conceptions about linear and quadratic equations and that mathematics teachers’ conception can influence their action in the classroom. The study also revealed that gender and teaching experience have a great influence in the teaching and learning of linear and quadratic equations. The result showed that there is significant difference between male and female mathematics teachers in their conception about linear and quadratic equations. Again, that there is significant difference between experienced and inexperienced mathematics teachers in their conceptions about linear and quadratic equations.