Relationship between students’ problem-solving performance and attitudes toward chunking technique instruction in Calculus

Abstract

This study determined the relationship between performance and attitude of students taught using the chunking technique in Calculus. Finding instructional approaches that could simultaneously improve cognitive and affective outcomes is important, but few studies have investigated the relationship between performance and attitude resulting from the use of chunking. This study was conducted to bridge the existing gap in the literature by providing insight into the effect of chunking on the cognitive and affective aspects of learning among the students. The main objective of the study was to establish the relationship between performance and attitude towards the chunking technique. Besides that, the study also sought to determine the level of performance and attitude of the students exposed to chunking. In this quasi-experimental study, two treatment groups were used, and data were collected using problem-solving tests and attitude surveys. Descriptive analysis and Pearson product-moment correlation were used to analyze the data. There was no significant relationship between attitude and performance in the first treatment group. On the other hand, a positive correlation was observed between attitude and performance in the second treatment group. In conclusion, there is a significant relationship between performance and attitude towards the chunking technique. Additionally, it was observed that chunking has a great effect on the students’ performance and attitude towards Calculus. Chunking was found to influence students’ ability to organize information for better understanding. As a result, chunking can be used to effectively teach students how to solve problems in Calculus.