Students Performance in Three-Dimensional Mathematics Multiple-Choice Test Items of National Examinations Council in South-Western Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the performance of students in three-dimensional Mathematics multiple-choice test items from the National Examination Council Senior Secondary School exams between 2011 and 2013 in southwestern Nigeria. It assessed how location affects the difficulty, discrimination, and guessing indices of these test items. The study adopted non-experimental design of descriptive research. The population of the study consist 632,238 senior secondary students and a sampled 3,503 students from six senatorial districts (one per state) in southwestern Nigeria, selected through random and purposive sampling techniques to include both rural and urban schools. The performance data, sourced from the NECO database, was analyzed using percentage and inter-item correlation. Results indicated that Ekiti students performed the best, with performance values ranging from 0-7.7% (0-39 candidates), followed by Osun State in 2011 (7.7%, 26 candidates), Lagos in 2012 (10.6%, 53 candidates), and Oyo in 2013 (5.7%, 16 candidates). The study found no significant influence of location (rural or urban) on the difficulty (b-parameter), discrimination (a-parameter), or guessing indices (c-parameter) of the three-dimensional Mathematics multiple-choice test items, with t-values indicating no significant differences (b-parameter: t = -1.075, 0.162, 3.211; a-parameter: t = -0.225, -0.121, 0.524; c-parameter: t = -1.359, -2.819, -1.961; p>0.05). The study concluded that the three-dimensional Mathematics multiple-choice test items were consistent across the item parameters over the years reviewed. It recommended regular in-service training for Mathematics teachers and emphasized the importance of teaching three-dimensional items in schools.