Understanding Performance of Undergraduate Students in Trigonometry in South-West of Nigeria

Trigonometry is a course that student’s first experience with mathematics beyond what theyhave learnt in the secondary school. It provides critical prerequisite skills for both physical andbiological science students. This study investigated the level of performance in trigonometryamong undergraduate students in the South-West Universities of Nigeria. The research designused in the study was a descriptive survey type. 150 undergraduate students from faculty ofscience were randomly selected from three (3) universities in the South-west region ofNigeria. Instrument used to gather data for this study was Trigonometry Achievement Test(TAT) (r = 0.78). The data obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics and independentsample t-test at 5% level of significance. The results indicated that the level of performanceof majority of the undergraduate students in the trigonometry achievement test was good 94(62.7%) and 3 (2.0%) perform poorly. There was no significant mean differences inperformance based on the type of secondary school (public, private) graduated from(t(148)=1.426, p 0.05), while there was significant mean difference in performance basedon their area of study (t(148)=1.576, p 0.05. Based on these findings, it is recommendedthat lecturers teaching trigonometry course should consider all the different areas of study ofthe undergraduate students that are offering trigonometry course in order to enhance theirperformance in the course.