Abstract
Effective teaching strategies are essential for improving students’ mathematics performance, yet existing findings are scattered across multiple studies. A meta-analysis provides a systematic synthesis of available evidence to identify which instructional approaches yield the highest impact on learning outcomes. This study aims to determine the overall effect size of teaching strategies in mathematics and compare the effectiveness of various instructional approaches across 32 primary studies. A meta-analytic design was employed following standard procedures for literature identification, screening, coding, and statistical summarization. Thirty-two studies met the inclusion criteria based on publication type, methodological rigor, and relevance to mathematics instruction. Effect sizes were computed using Glass’s Δ and summarized according to strategy type. Moderator variables such as educational level and strategy category were examined descriptively. The overall mean effect size across the included studies indicates that teaching strategies in mathematics have a generally positive impact on students' performance. Among the strategies analyzed, activity-oriented and learner-centered approaches show larger effect sizes than traditional teacher-led methods. However, variability across studies suggests potential moderating influences such as instructional design and learner characteristics. Mathematics teaching strategies demonstrate meaningful positive effects, highlighting the importance of adopting evidence-based instructional practices. Future research should address methodological inconsistencies across primary studies and include larger samples to strengthen generalizability. Findings offer important implications for teachers, curriculum planners, and school administrators seeking to enhance mathematics learning outcomes.
