STUDENTS ANALYTICAL THINKING SKILLS AND TEACHERS’ INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES IN ALGEBRA IN SELECTED STATE UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES IN REGION VIII

This study was aimed at determining the students analytical thinking skills and teachers’ instructional practices in algebra in selected state universities and colleges in region VIII. Specifically it sought to determine the socio - demographic profile of the students, their performance in Algebra, teachers’ instructional practices in Algebra, socio demographic profile of the teac hers teaching Algebra; and to determine the relationship between these variables. Data gathering was done through a survey questionnaire designed for the purpose, and statistical treatment of data utilized the frequency, percentage, and mean; and the Pears on Product - Moment Coefficient of Correlation and the Chi - square Test for the test of hypotheses. The socio - demographic profile of the students respondents highlighted that majority of the respondents were males; 16 years old; parents have a low average i ncome and average rating of good both in Mathematics and Algebra. Characteristics of the student - respondents highlighted that majority of the undergraduate students were females and single; the greatest majority had not taken any Mathematics subject; and all had not taken any Statistics or Research subject. On the other hand, majority of the graduate students were females and married; all had taken Mathematics subjects; only a few had taken Statistics subject; and the greatest majority had taken Research s ubjects. Both the undergraduate and graduate students generally had positive attitudes towards Statistics and had sufficient knowledge in both descriptive and inferential statistics .