Using differentiated instruction to foster algebraic thinking in classrooms

This quasi experiment sought to use strategies of differentiated instruction (DI) to foster algebraic reasoning of Junior High School (JHS) year 2 students in the Winneba municipality, Ghana. The study employed Solomon four group sampling technique to collect pre-test and post-test data from 337 students. After the treatment, the independent 𝑡-test on the post-test gave the results (𝑀1 = 11.2,𝑆𝐷1 = 4.7) and (𝑀2 = 4.3,𝑆𝐷2 = 3.1) with 𝑡(335) = 16.2,𝑝(0.000) < 0.05 indicating that, there was a significant difference between the achievement score of the experimental and control groups. The calculated effect size between the means of the experimental and control groups was approximately 0.7, an indication that the effect of DI strategies is large. It was recommended that, DI strategies should be employed in Ghanaian classroom to improve students’ algebraic thinking.