The Effects of Teaching Middle School Students Math Using the Gifted Supplementary Curriculum “Mawhiba” on Students’ Academic Achievement and Attitude Toward Math in Public Schools in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the use of a supplementary math curriculum, “Mawhiba,” that was designed for gifted students, would be appropriate for regular students in a mixed-abilities classroom. The researcher investigated the effects of implementing the Mawhiba enriched supplementary math curriculum on students’ achievements in mathematics and on students’ attitudes toward mathematics in Hail State, Saudi Arabia. The research design was an experimental randomized subject pretest, post-test, control group design. Two schools were chosen (a female middle school and a male middle school). The sample consisted of 121 students (60 males and 61 females). The treatment groups received the supplementary math curriculum “Mawhiba” in addition to the Ministry of Education math curriculum while the control groups spent equal time on math but only received the math curriculum provided by the Ministry of Education. Academic achievement was assessed utilizing pretest & post-test assessments developed and validated for this project. Attitude toward math was assessed using a translated, validated attitude toward math (ATM) scale by Aiken, LR. (1979), and translated into Arabic and provided by Al-Furaihi (2003). The pre-tests further established the equivalency of the experimental and the control groups in each gender. The male experimental group scored significantly higher than the male control group on both Academic Achievement and Attitude toward mathematics. A matched t-test for the male experimental group also indicated an improvement in the attitude toward mathematics, but it was not significant. The female experimental group manifested statistically significant gains in attitude toward mathematics in the post-test compared to the pretest. Also, there was a higher but not significantly higher attitude score for the female experimental group than for the female students in the control group. Positive significant correlations between attitude toward mathematics and math academic achievement were also found in all groups except for the male students in the control group.