AN INVESTIGATIVE STUDY ON THE AVAILABILITY AND USE OF TEACHING AIDS IN TEACHING MATHEMATICS IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

ABSTRACT
This study was geared towards finding out the availability and use of teaching aids in mathematics teaching by upper basic teachers in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.Instructional materials are instruments that facilitate learning, they accelerate the rate at which students learn and also make teaching and learning interesting and comparatively easy. They are collections of materials and equipment that can be used to communicate between two or more systems. Teaching aids are vital to teaching and learning process. They are potent in reducing abstraction that characterizes mathematics concepts. However, research reports have shown that these materials are grossly unavailable in most schools. Few available ones are either inadequate or underutilized. This research study was carried using descriptive study of the survey type. Ten (10) secondary schools were randomly selected and the population of the study consisted of teachers of mathematics. It was discovered that visual materials like chalk and chalkboard, charts, pictures and posters were available and used very often in all the sampled schools while other visuals like steel pictures, slides and film were not available in all the sampled schools. Use of teaching aids should be encouraged in schools. Fund should be made readily available to purchase or produce instructional materials.