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This study was undertaken to assess gender differences in mathematics achievement and retention by using Problem-Based Learning (PBL). The design of the study was pre-posttest quasi-experimental. Four hundred and twenty eight senior secondary one (SS I) students using multistage sampling from ten grant-aided and government schools were involved in the study. Two hundred and sixty one male students and one hundred and sixty seven female students were taught algebra using PBL method of instruction. Algebra Achievement Test (AAT) constructed by the researchers was the main instrument used for data collection. Two hypotheses were raised for the study and tested using t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that male and female students taught algebra using PBL did not significantly differ in achievement and retention scores, thereby revealing that male and female students are capable of competing and collaborating in mathematics. In addition, this finding showed that performance is a function of orientation, not gender. The studies recommend the use of PBL by mathematics teachers to overcome the male image of mathematics and enhance students' (male and female) achievement and retention.

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert