Effect of Indirect Teacher influence on Dependent-prone Students' Learning Outcomes in Secondary School Mathematics

Introduction. Student's personality orientation and teacher's classroom behavior are among the many factors that influence student's learning. In this study, the author examined the effect of indirect teacher influence on dependent-prone students' learning outcomes (achievement) in mathematics at the senior secondary school level. Method. The sample comprised 270 (117 boys and 153 girls) dependent-prone senior secondary school one students. Based on their scores in the dependent-proneness test the 270 dependent-prone students were identified from a pool of 587 students from twelve randomly selected senior secondary schools in Osun State, Nigeria. Their ages ranged between 15 and 17 years. Twelve intact classes were used. There were two treatment groups: Indirect Teacher Influence Group (Experimental Group) and Direct Teacher Influence Group (Control Group). The Modified Flanders' Interaction Category System was used to determine the extent to which the instructors in the two contrasting groups were able to exhibit the pattern of indirect influence and direct influence. The moderating effect of student's cognitive style preferences (Field Independence versus Field Dependence) on achievement in mathematics was also assessed. Data were analyzed by using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Results. Results showed that dependent-prone students in indirect teacher influence group had higher achievement score in mathematics than their colleagues in the direct teacher influence group. The main effect of cognitive style was not statistically significant. However, the interaction effect of treatment and cognitive style preferences was statistically significant.. Discussion and Conclusion. The findings of this study point out that the dependent-prone students' learning outcomes in highly structured school subjects such as mathematics can be enhanced by giving them maximum opportunities to participate in the teaching and learning processes in the classroom. The effect of indirect teacher influence was stronger for dependent-prone students who were field depentdents than for field independents. A major implication of this study is that closer supervision through the use of direct influence in mathematics class may be harmful to dependent-prone students.