Abstract

TRENDS OF PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIAN UNIFIED TERTIARY MATRICULATION EXAMINATION IN MATHEMATICS FROM 2012-2016

1Enikanolaye, Ayodeji John, 2Professor Medinat Folorunso Salman, 3Akanmu, Morenikeji Alex, 4 Salami, Olajumoke Olayemi

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Abstract The need for well skilled candidates in science, technology and mathematics have been the concern of science educators globally. The low performances in mathematics from primary school through secondary school to the tertiary institutions has become a great concern to all stakeholders. This situation could hamper the quest for scientific and technological development, which is anchored in the National policy on Education. This study therefore find out trends of performance in Nigerian Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination in mathematics from 2012-2016. One hundred and twenty three thousand four hundred and thirty three university of Ilorin candidates who enrolled for mathematics in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination from 2012-2016 were collected from University of Ilorin academic unit. The study employed percentage and Auto Regressive Time Series to answer research questions 1, research question 2 was answered using mean and hypothesis was tested using t-Test. The study reveal that (i) the trend of performance in UTME in mathematics was non stationary (ii) the difference in the performance of male and female candidates in UTME in mathematics was in favour of male (iii) there was no significant difference in candidates? performance in UTME in mathematics. Based on the findings, the study recommended thatthere should be investigation into factors causing the unstable performance in UTME in mathematics. Keywords: Gender, Trends, Performance,UTME

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