Effect of Radical and Social Constructive Learning Approaches on Higher Order Thinking in Mathematics in Relation to Attitude towards Mathematics

The present study investigates the effect of radical and social constructive learning approaches on higher order thinking in mathematics of secondary school students in relation to their attitude towards mathematics. The sample consisted of class7th students selected from three different schools of Ropar affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi. Instructional materials based on radical and social constructive learning approaches were prepared and utilized to teach the experimental group after pre-testing. The gain higher order thinking scores were computed after implementing pre and post test on all the students. Attitude towards Mathematics test and Raven Progressive Matrices by Raven, Raven and Court (2000) was also administered. A two-way analysis of variance (3×3) was used to arrive at conclusions: (i)The higher order thinking of groups taught through radical and social constructive learning approaches were found significantly higher than that of traditional teaching approach in mathematics. (ii) The higher order thinking of high, average and low attitude towards mathematics groups were found significantly different from one another.(iii) There was significant interaction effect of instructional approaches and attitude towards mathematics groups on higher order thinking in mathematics.