Attitude of Secondary School Students Towards the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics, Using Katsina – Ala Local Government Area, Benue State as a Case Study
CHAPTER ONE
Purpose of Study
The subject is more positive. The researcher feels that a students’ negative attitude toward Mathematics as a subject has a damaging effect on their performance in the classroom. The researcher also feels that teachers who are more enthusiastic and have a more positive attitude about teaching mathematics have students whose attitude about the subject is more positive.
The main purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing the attitude of students towards the study of mathematics in Nigeria, using Katsina-Ala L.G.A, Benue State as a case study.
Therefore the Specific objectives of the study are:
- To determine student’s performance in Mathematics across gender.
- To establish student’s attitude towards Mathematics across gender, with reference to:
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
William James once said, “It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.” (Van Wagner, 2008). This idea crosses many different aspects of everyday life. Businesses bring in motivational speakers to help inspire their employees to help them have a more positive attitude to help productivity. Businesses also do team building exercises to help employees have a better outlook on their jobs and the people they work with. Athletic coaches spend a significant amount of practice time talking to their players about “believing” and reminding players that any team can beat any other team on any given day. If a team does not have a positive outlook on an upcoming game, their chances of winning the game are significantly lowered. Many athletic teams use the phrase “believe and you can achieve” as their motto for a successful season. This idea is well known and accepted in today’s society. This philosophy is no different in classrooms than it is anywhere else in society. McCleod (1992) said that attitude toward mathematics is related to mathematics success in the classroom.
Theoretical Frame Work
Psychologists define ‘attitude’ as any strong belief or feeling or any approval or disapproval toward people and situations. We have favorable or unfavorable attitudes towards people, politics, academic subjects, etc. We favor the things we think are good and helpful, and oppose the things we think are bad and harmful (Kagan, 1984). The students’ attitude towards an academic subject is a crucial factor in learning and achievement in that subject. Whether a student views herself or himself as a strong or weak person in a specific subject may be an important factor in her or his academic achievement. Stodalsky et al. (1991) mentioned that students develop ideas, feelings and attitudes about school subjects over time and from a variety of sources.
Conversely, student’s achievement can influence a student’s attitude as well. Thus, it is important for teachers to improve student work to make a positive change in their attitude toward mathematics (Ma & Xu, 2004). Hannula stated that attitudes can change in a short period of time, and sometimes dramatically (2002). Many students, especially those that are younger and less established students, their attitude toward a particular subject is proportional to their recent success in the class. A good day can sway the attitude to the positive side and conversely a bad day can swing the attitude toward the negative side. Although, in Hannula’s research, he found that once established, an attitude is fairly stable and only minor changes occur based on successes and failures (2002). This is where teachers can have a great impact on the shaping of this attitude: “Teachers can reinforce the idea that mathematics is an interesting subject, used in other disciplines, and is an admission ticket for colleges and careers.” (Anderson, 2007).
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter presents the research design, area of study, population, sample and sampling technique. The research instruments, validation of the instrument, data collection and the method of data analysis.
Research Design
The study employs descriptive research of survey type, to investigate the factors influencing the attitude of students towards the study of mathematics in secondary schools in Katsina Ala Local Government Area of Benue State. The intent of the descriptive research is to describe the qualities, characteristics or facts of a given population, event or area of interest concerning the problem under investigation.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION
Introduction
This chapter deals with data presentation, analysis, interpretation and discussion of the result of the findings.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
This chapter deals with the summary, conclusion, recommendations, and suggestion for further study.
Summary of Findings
This study investigated the influence of attitude towards the study of mathematics in secondary schools in Katsinala Ala Local Government Area of Benue State.
The research questions were answered while two hypothesis were formulated and tested at = 0.05.
From the research, it is discovered that attitude itself can affect level of energy input, perseverance and performance. The findings revealed that the female students perceive mathematics as difficult. Hence, attitude and gender difference have a significant impact in the performance of students in mathematics.
Furthermore, the research shows that students’ attitude are influenced by teacher’s method, the student’s background, motivation, the class size and government policy.
Conclusion
Based on the results from the data analysis, it is concluded that the factor investigated is considered a possibility. The implication is that gender and attitude difference affects students’ performance in mathematics.
In general, self-concept refers to a complex system of learned beliefs, attitudes, and opinions that each person holds (Purkey, 1988) and is perhaps the basis for all motivated behavior. Franken (1994) states there is an increasing body of research which shows that it is possible to change the self-concept. Self-change is not something that people can will but rather it depends on the process of self-reflection. Through self-reflection, people often come to view themselves in a new, more powerful way, and it is through this new, more powerful way of viewing the self that people are able to develop possible selves. In addition to the self-concept factor, students’ attitudes toward mathematics is the most important students’ characteristic that has positive Standardized Regression Coefficient in predicting students’ mathematics achievement.
Recommendations
In general, the implication of these findings could serve as a guideline for teachers, educational practitioners and curriculum developers so that they can ensure that the utilized educational policies, methodologies and activities would help students improve their academic self-concept as well as positive attitudes toward school subjects including mathematics. The findings of the present study are important for Nigerian education system due to the fact that changing academic self-concept and attitude of students towards mathematics and improving the teaching procedures in the classroom are much easier to achieve than changing background factors affecting students’ performance. The obtained results could serve as a basis for developing a hypothetical model for studying the direct and indirect effects of the afore-mentioned factors on mathematics achievement using Path Analysis or Structural Equation Modeling.
Limitations
The researcher feels that based on the data that was collected; several limitations could have influenced the data. Based on the data collected and tabulated, the research does show that there is a positive correlation between a student’s overall attitude towards mathematics and their success in the classroom. The scope of this research is limited to Katsina Ala Local Government Area of Benue State. Finance and time constraint has been weighing set back to this research.
Application
The significance of this study could be used by both teachers and parents of students. Since the study does show a positive correlation, teachers might try and find ways to help students develop a positive attitude and thus improving their overall performance in the classroom. Parents could use this study in a similar fashion to help their children’s success with mathematics.
Future Implications
If the researcher were to compute this study again, there would be a few additions made to the process. The researcher would begin by gaining school wide permission from the principal to survey all of the students in the school. This would increase the sample size, making the results more valid. It would also insure that more students who do not have a high level of success in the classroom are part of the data as well. The researcher would also include a parental component to the study looking to see what the overall attitude at home is toward math and how it is perceived.
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