Influence of Reinforcement on Achievement in Mathematics among Senior Secondary School Students in Aba North Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria

This study assessed the influence of reinforcement on academic achievement in mathematics among senior secondary school students in Aba North LGA, Abia State, Nigeria. The study employed descriptive survey design. The population comprised the entire senior secondary school students in Aba North LGA, Abia State. One hundred students (100) were randomly drawn from five schools to constitute the sample of the population. The instrument for data collection was a researcher-made questionnaire tagged Reinforcement and Academic Achievement in Mathematics Questionnaire (RAAMQ) comprising twenty items with each of the four variables contributing five items. Cronbach Alpha reliability technique was used to estimate the reliability coefficient and an estimate 0.80. The mathematics scores were collected from mathematics teachers in the sampled schools. It was assumed that the scores were generated from valid and reliable mathematics achievement tests.  To achieve the purpose of the study, four research questions were posed and four null hypotheses formulated. The research questions were answered using descriptive statistics by calculating mean scores and standard deviation. All hypotheses were tested at 0.05 levels of significant using paired t-test. The findings revealed that fixed interval schedule reinforcement, variable interval schedule reinforcement, fixed ratio schedule reinforcement, and variable ratio schedule reinforcement have statistically significant influence on academic achievement in mathematics among senior secondary students in Aba North LGA, Abia State. Based on the findings, teachers are recommended that utilize reinforcement involve on reinforcement training and retraining to boost students achievement in Mathematics, policy makers in education are to encourage more research on reinforcement as well as promote inclusion of reinforcement in curricular, while students must be free to identify the best reinforcement that can engage them as well as boost their achievement in Mathematics.