Journal of Education, Society and Behavioural Science

This study assessed students’ procedural and conceptual knowledge of algebra in colleges of education in Kano State. The design of the study was panel survey research design. Three research questions were raised and three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The population was 790 NCE1 students of Mathematics combinations from eight colleges of education with a sample size of 236 students using multistage sampling technique. Two-tier Diagnostics Test Items Cycle I and Cycle II with a reliability coefficient of 0.75 were used for data collection. Mean and standard deviation was used to answer research questions, while t-test statistics were used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that there exists a significant difference between the mean achievement scores of students in procedural knowledge and conceptual knowledge in algebra (P < 0.05). It was also revealed that procedural and conceptual knowledge of male and female students in algebra did not significantly differ (P > 0.05). Based on the findings, it was recommended that conferences and workshops should be organized for in-service Mathematics teachers to keep them informed of the importance of procedural and conceptual knowledge in Mathematics and how to teach students to acquire such skills. The study concludes that procedural and conceptual knowledge are necessary for enhancing achievement in algebra and other fields. That is, the meaningful academic progress of students in algebra is a function of procedural and conceptual knowledge.