Abstract

MATHEMATICS IN SKILL ACQUISITION AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Sussan Ijeoma Ezeh (Ph.D) and Cecilia Chinyere Ogbonna (Ph.D)

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Skill acquisition is part and parcel of mathematics learning. A good mathematics teacher should inculcate mathematical skills to the learner because of their usefulness to the society. This study looked at the various mathematical skills and their influence in vocational education and national development. The instrument used for data collection was a 22 item structured questionnaire constructed by the researcher. The instrument was validated by experts and the reliability coefficient obtained was 0.78 through Chronbach Alpha method. The study was carried out in Umuahia education zone of Abia state among 152 mathematics teachers. Three research questions were posed and answered using percentages, mean and standard deviation. Results showed that there are a number of skills embedded in the learning of mathematics as all the skills listed had percentages above 50. It also showed that mathematical skills to a very high extent influence vocational education and national development. t was recommended that teachers should intensify effort in the teaching of mathematics to ensure that students acquire the skills to develop themselves and the nation. Keywords: Mathematics, skill acquisition, vocational education, national development and influence.

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