Performing Below the Targeted Level: An Investigation into KS3 Pupils’ Attitudes Towards Mathematics

Abstract

<p><em>This study sets out to investigate the attitude KS3 pupils have towards mathematics and the factors that influence this attitude. A case study approach was used as the pupils were a unit of the school under study and a survey method was chosen to provide scope to the study. Purposeful sampling was employed for the selection of 200 pupils from years 7 and 9 who were from target achiever and non target achiever groups. Attitudes Toward Mathematics Inventory (Tapia, 1996) was administered to the participants to measure their attitude towards mathematics. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17. The result for the first hypothesis indicated that there is a significant difference on the variable of mathematics attitude of year 7 and 9 target achievers and non target achievers pupils (t=4.11, df =199, p <.05) and for the second hypothesis, the difference in the variety of attitudes is statistically significant in the pupuls from both groups (t=2.3, df =210, p <.05). The results of the research will enable teachers to understand the factors that effect attitude of pupils towards mathematics at secondary level and direct head teachers to establish effective teacher training and support system to help pupils to develop an interest in mathematics.</em></p>

Two-Level Model of Attitudes and Beliefs Influencing Higher Order Thinking (HOT) Skills in Mathematics

“…As attitude and performance is interrelated in many studies (HANNULA, 2019;WIJSMAN et al, 2016), the decreasing pattern of students' attitude in a higher level of education is in line with the declining pattern of students' mathematics performance (WIJSMAN et al, 2016). This may be due to the learning students experienced in the higher level of schooling is less interested (MIRZA; HUSSAIN, 2018). Thus, it is a challenge for Indonesian mathematics teachers to keep the students' attitude remain high in each level of schooling by creating an interesting lesson.…”

A systematic review of secondary students’ attitudes towards mathematics and its relations with mathematics achievement

“…Six articles used bi-dimensional definitions, all acknowledging the importance of affects. Five articles suggested that mathematics attitudes are the combination of affects and beliefs towards the subject (Ifamuyiwa & Akinsola, 2008;Kiwanuka et al, 2017;Ma, 1997;Mirza & Hussain, 2018;Moyer et al, 2018). For example, Moyer et al (2018, p. 117) defined it as "the result of highly interdependent aspects of beliefs and emotions".…”

Assessing Anxiety and Attitudes Towards Arithmetic and Algebra

“…Attitude towards math is an important predictor of performance. A better attitude leads to a better performance where the interest and readiness toward the subject also increase (Mirza & Hussain, 2018). Attitude and anxiety are also correlated, where better attitudes reduce the anxiety levels associated with a subject, and thereby improve the performance of a subject (Akin & Kurbanoglu, 2011; Susanto et al, 2020).…”

“…Katrancı and Şengül (2019) measured the attitudes toward math problem-solving revealing that students had an overall positive attitude to problem-solving. Mirza and Hussain (2018) determined the attitudes of middle school students to nd that there were no signi cant differences in attitudes between the students. However, the study revealed a positive relationship between math achievement and attitudes and a difference in the attitudes between the target achievers and non-achievers.…”