Impact of Error Analysis Techniques on Mathematics’ Assimilation among a Cohort of Struggling Secondary School Students

There has been an increasing number of mathematics failures among secondary school students in Africa in the past few years, specifically in Nigeria, as 20% of candidates who sat for the West African Certificate Examination failed in 2023 and an increasing percentage of 27% in 2024. However, there have been diverse attempts by different scholars and policymakers to salvage the situation, but not much success has been achieved. This study, therefore, investigated the impact/effectiveness of Error Analysis Techniques (EAT) on mathematics assimilation among struggling students in a selected secondary school. The study employed a Quasi-experimental research design and purposive sampling method to assign the study participants to different study groups (1 control and 2 experimental groups). Twenty-six (N = 26) participants were selected to participate in the study based on the inclusion criteria. The study's outcome revealed that Error Analysis Techniques significantly increased students’ assimilation/understanding of problematic mathematical calculations. Furthermore, participants in experimental groups 1 and 2 showed better assimilation after the experiment than participants in the control group. The study, therefore, concluded that EAT is efficacious in improving mathematics understanding for struggling students. The limitations and recommendations of the study were further discussed.