CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Problem
In Nigeria, education has now become a
weapon through which one can rise to prominence (Germann, 1988). The awareness
and demand for education has made this society to plan for accelerated rates of
educational development as well as the expansion of education opportunities in
recent years.
The need for studying the
relationship between students’ attitude towards mathematics and their
performances is greater today than ever before in a study by Soyibo (1983) of
the WASC results of 12 randomly selected schools in Lagos State, it was
revealed that achievement was worst in Mathematics (54% failure) followed by
Biology (51% failure). In the May – June 1982 Chief Examiner’s report, it was
stated that students performance in Mathematics was on a steady decline due to
the candidates’ negative attitude to the subject. In view of the huge cry of
people from different quarters in the society on the falling standard of
education in the country and the urgent need to do something worthwhile about
it. It appears as if little or no improvement is recorded at least, judging by
the students’ performance in mathematics viz a viz other subjects in various examinations
conducted in schools. The problem is even more pronounced in the rural area
where the graph of mass failure of secondary school students in the Senior
Secondary School Examination has been on the upward trend in the last ten
years.
The fact that Nigeria is a
developing country, she needs good number of scientists and technologists. As a
result of this, both federal and state governments in collaboration with most
of our higher institutions are embarking on many scientific projects. Some of
these projects are; Meteorological Research Center
in Lagos;
Energy Research Centre [ERC]
at Obafemi Awolowo
University, lle-lfe; lron
and Steel Development at Ajadja and Ajaokuta which have gulped billions of
naira and many Agricultural Research Institutes throughout the Country.
To
further improve this goal, Mathematics, for its role has been made a compulsory
subject in the Primary and Post
Primary Schools, and even
learnt as a GSE course in the tertiary institutions. It is even important to
note that the new system of education 6-3-3-4; favours sciences more than any
other aspect of education.
Statement of the Problem
The annual poor performance of
students in mathematics calls for concerted efforts to improve its teaching in
secondary schools. A major problem identified in Mathematics at SSCE level, as
stated by Neale (1989) is that positive
or negative attitude towards Mathematics appears to have slightly influence on
how much mathematics is learned, remembered and used. Various studies have been
conducted on attitude in computer Loyd and Gressard, 1984; science (Germann, 1988;
Osborne, Simon, and Collins, 2003) and Mathematics (Adegboye, 1991; Neale,
1989; Osafehinti, 1988; Osibodu, 1988). However, the studies on attitude in
Mathematics education were only conducted on attitude. Since research on
attitude and performance in Mathematics in rare to come by, this study in
therefore designed to identifying and analyzing attitude and performance of
students in Mathematics.
Most
of the studies conducted in Computer, Science and Mathematics as cited above
employed questionnaire to collect data from the students. However, the present employed
students’ results and questionnaire techniques. The present is also unique for
using promotion examinations result as compared with questionnaire employed in
most previously conducted studies (Computer, Science and Mathematic). This
study was therefore designed to correlate between students’ attitude and their
performance in Mathematics in Ogbomoso South of Oyo State.
Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this study was to
find out the correlation between students’ attitude and their academic performance
in Mathematics.
Specifically, the study examined:
1.
The
correlation of students’ attitude towards mathematics and their academic
performance in the subject.
2.
The influence
of students’ gender on their attitude towards mathematics.
3.
The influence
of students’ gender on their academic performance mathematics.
Research Questions
The following research questions were
addressed in the study:
i.
Is
there any correlation between students’ academic performance in mathematics and
their attitude towards mathematics?
ii.
Is
there any correlation between the attitude of male and female students towards
mathematics?
iii.
Is
there any correlation difference in academic performance of male and female
students in mathematics?
Research Hypotheses
i.
There
is no significant correlation between students’ academic performance and their attitude
towards mathematics.
ii.
There
is no correlation between the attitude of male and female students’ towards
mathematics.
iii.
There
is no correlation between the academic performance of male and female students.
Significance
of the Study
It
is assumed that a study of this nature would hopefully give an insight into the
attitude and performance of among secondary school mathematics students in
Ogbomoso – South of Oyo State. Such an insight has far reaching implications
for learners, teachers, curriculum planners and developers, of school
administrators and future researchers. The behaviour would be able to determine
what has been mastered as opposed to what has not. He may be able to assess who
in terms of strengths and weakness as works out rules of the mathematics. Such
a critical assessment would hopefully result in improvement in students’
performance in mathematics.
The
study would help teacher to carefully planned and imaginative use of visual
aids in a given lesson. This would help to determine the appropriate selections
of textbooks and meaningful presentation of materials considered difficult or unfamiliar
to them (the students).
It
is also assumed that the findings of this study would help curriculum planners
and developers to keep abreast of curriculum developments in mathematics by
using simple and relevant examples in the curriculum. Thus, they can make
amendments in the curriculum to cater as much as possible for all the areas of
difficulties.
The
findings from this study could also help to inform school administrators of the
areas which need to be emphasized at various seminars and workshops in order to
improve teachers’ understanding of difficult area in the curriculum, which will,
in turn help the students to perform better.
Scope of the Study
This study was limited to secondary
schools in Ogbomosho South LGA of Oyo
State only because of
time and financial constraints. The study involved two hundred senior secondary
schools students in (S.S.2) classes in Ogbomosho South.
Although there were a number of twenty
secondary schools in the LGA, only ten were used. The researcher was aware of
the effect of other factors such as peer group, school environment, parents
etc. could have on students, performance and these might affect the desired
result of this study. The school last promotion examination was used to find
out the performance of the students, this might fall or rise slightly than that
of standardized tests since the tests depended on different teachers.
The questionnaire method was used for
collecting data on students’ attitudes. The above limitations notwithstanding,
the result would help teachers and parents to identify the relationship between
the students attitudes and their performance in mathematics. Reference can be
made to this work for generalization or by other researcher whose scope might
be wider than this.
Clarification of Major Terms and
Variables
Attitude: - This is defined as the feeling of opinion
about something or someone, or a way of behaving that follows from this
(Cambridge international dictionary of English, 1996).
Correlation:- This is defined as the degree of
relationship between variables
Performance: - The performance of a learner is the
measure of his ability in carrying out successfully or otherwise a given task,
assignment, class work, tests etc. It has to do with level and degree of
competency, efficiency and effectiveness of the students.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The purpose of this chapter is to
review related literature in other to help the researcher conceptualize the
subject matter and to fully appraise work already done in the area of interest
to the study. This chapter, therefore, focuses on the following sub-headings:
i.
Objectives
and nature of senior secondary school mathematics curriculum
ii.
Trends
of students’ academic performance in mathematics.
iii.
Attitude
of senior school students towards learning mathematics
iv.
Problems
associated with poor academic performance in mathematics examinations.
v.
Empirical
studies on correlation between attitudes towards mathematics and academic
performance in mathematics
vi.
Reason
for students dislike mathematics
vii.
Review
of related literature
Objectives and nature of senior
secondary school mathematics curriculum
Mathematics
has been assumed to be universal or neutral subject by many researchers in mathematics education
(Osefehinti, 1990; and Ukeje, 1990). This implies that, mathematics relates to individual’s
life, the society and the nature in general (Osefehinti 1990). Also, many
mathematics educators (Fajemidagba 1987, and Salman, 1989) in line with Schwab
(1964) saw mathematics as a highly structured discipline which has a conceptual
and syntactic structure. This means that, there are two major aspects of the
structure of mathematics; the substantive structure (i.e. the products) and the
syntactic structure (i.e. processes)
The
unique nature of mathematics has made both mathematicians and mathematics
educators to see it in almost the same perspectives. Fakuade (1977) regarded mathematics
as an ordered body of interrelated ideas and language of ordered and pattern.
Similarly, Akpan (1987) described it as a structure of relationship which may
be expressed in words, numbers and symbols, in diagrams and graphs. Fajemidagba
(1998) sharing the same view with Stefe (1990) pointed out that mathematics is
a human activity and through such activity the meaning of mathematics is formed. In the same view, Schoenfeld
(1992) saw mathematics as living subjects which seeks to understand patterns
that spreads through both the would around us and the mind within us. According
to him, the language of mathematics is based on rules to be learned. However,
it is very important to motivate the learner to move beyond rules to be able to
express themselves in the language of mathematics.
Mathematics
education has undergone various changes in Nigeria before and after
independence. This was paramount importance in the history of education in the
nation. Researcher in mathematics education (Badmus, 1977, Fajemidagba 1986;
1991; Lassa, 1977; and Ohuche, 1978) pointed out that reforms in mathematics
education started early in 1930’s and extended to 1960’s. during this period,
only three books were popularly used as arithmetic class textbook in the
primary schools in many parts of Nigeria (Ohuche 1978). In 1968,
West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) presented three alternative syllabi for
mathematics for secondary schools. The Alternative A and Alternative B were the
major syllabus. The third was the additional mathematics syllabus meant to
prepare students who were mathematically inclined and those who wanted to pursue
careers in mathematics related discipline (e.g. engineering). According to
Badmus (1977) and Lassa (1977), the arithmetic component of mathematics was
made compulsory for all students in Nigeria teacher college. It was
assumed that primary school teachers needed no knowledge of other components of
mathematics, they were required to thoroughly master arithmetical processes.
Osibodu (1988), Odii (1990) noted that the blames were directed towards the
teaching of modern mathematics which was termed to be a borrowed curriculum.
In
the 6-3-3-4 system of education in Nigeria, mathematics is one of the
core subjects for the primary level and the two secondary stages. It implies
that every child in the primary, and at both Junior
Secondary School and Senior Secondary Schools
must offer mathematics as a school subject. This is an indication that
mathematics is very important in the nations drive toward technological
development.
As
stipulated in the National Policy on Education (NPE) (FRN, 2004), the secondary
education is for children who have completed primary education and ready to be
prepared for tertiary education. Therefore, the broad goals of secondary
education as stated in the NPE are to:
1.
Prepare
the individual for useful living within the society and
2.
Prepare the individual for higher education.
For the goals to be achieved, secondary education is in two stages, a junior
secondary stage and a senior secondary stage of three years duration for each
stage (Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN), 2004)
The
topic in the secondary school curriculum includes the following: number and
numeration, Algebraic processes, menstruation, plane Geometry, Trigonometry and
statistics, indices and logarithms General arithmetic, latitude and longitude.
Each topic is divided into sub-topics which indicate the scope of the contents
and units to be covered at that particular stage. The study of the curriculum
by the present researcher revealed that each topic is repeated each year,
accompanied by specific objectives. In other words, continuity is expected in
what students are to be taught from year and in a hierarchical form. That is
from known to unknown and from simple to complex.
Trends of Students Academic
Performance in Mathematics
Good academic performance is seen as
performance that falls above a specify standard called pass mark. For instance,
in the West African School Certificate Examination (WAEC), the pass mark
is fixed for 40% and performance that falls below mark is regarded as failure.
Poor academic performance on the other hand, refers to performance that falls
below a desired standard (Bakare 1986).
This
desired level may not be achieved due to a number of factors, such as the
difficulty of the test, the ability of the students, the strictness of the marking,
the over all performance of the group or class or even relevance to the future
aspirations of the students. In the last case for instance, overall performance
of a student could be regarded as poor if the students has distinction in all
the irrelevant subjects but fails in few subjects such as Mathematics and
English Language which are critical to his future educational aspiration.
It
seems clear therefore that the concept of poor academic performance is much
more subjective and more inclusive than the concept of academic failure. If
therefore one add student who could be said to have poor academic performance
to those who have actually failed, then the enormity of Nigeria’s
problems in this regard will begin to go down on us.
It
is also stressed that the implication of poor performance is grave for the
country as a whole, for the schools, for the family and for the failing child
himself. As these implications are fairly well known. Besides the social,
economic and political implications of students’ mass academic failure for Nigeria, it is
clear that such failure may affect the leadership of the African continent. It
could also rob her of taking her place on an equal status basis among developed
nations of the world.
With
regard to schools characterized by chronic mass failure, they became
stigmatized as never-do-well by students teachers, parents and by other
schools. Both students characterized by chronic mass failure, they became
stigmatized as never-do-well by students, teachers, parents and by other
schools. Both students and staff of such schools have low feelings of self
worth and such feelings in themselves could generate further failure. For
parents of children who fail, such failure constitutes not only an economic and
social disaster, but psychological one as well. Thus besides the wastage of
funds involved, such failure becomes a social stigma for parents who also feel
unfulfilled because their future aspirations for the child are unrealized
(Adaralegbe 1982).
In
the case of the child himself, academic failure is a psychological crushing
experience. Not only is his self concept damaged by such failure but his entire
future appears uncompromised are driven to suicide. On the whole, such grave
implications of mass academic failure and overall poor academic performance as
have been explained above impel educationists to seek causes and proffer
solution to ameliorate situation.
Attitude of Senior School
Students Towards Learning Mathematics
Attitude is believed to play a
crucial role in the learning of Mathematics. Cox (1989) asserted that a
learner’s attitude affects what he learns, what he remembers and what he does.
In contrast, Neale (1989) observed that positive or negative attitude towards
Mathematics appears to have only slight casual influence on how much
mathematics is learned, remembered and used. In addition, he said that mental
ability, personality traits and motivational factors are major factors
contributing to achievement in Mathematics. Adegboye (1991) contended that one
of he major factors causing poor performance in Mathematics is the negative
attitude of the students.
Capps
(1989) defined attitude or interest as an expressed liking for a particular
subject. Ojo (1986) in his articles said that attitude is one of the problems
facing the teaching of Mathematics and that pupils and teachers’ attitude
towards Mathematics are contributory towards the teaching and learning of the
subject. He pointed out that negative attitude towards Mathematics, by
students, may result from the teachers’ own attitude towards the subject. He
further said that many students, particularly, female ones have negative
attitude towards Mathematics. He concluded that the reason for the negative
attitude of the female students might be because they are often told that
Mathematics is a masculine subject which belongs to a selected few. Using
cognitive domain, affective measure and attitude towards Mathematics,
Osafehinti, (1988) found that there is a significant difference in achievement
in Mathematics between boys and girls in favour of boys. Osibodu (1988) in her
study emphasized the need to catch students young for uteracy in Mathematics.
She said further in her study on how children learn mathematics that classroom
teachers tend to place inadequate students’ motivation on the priority list of
causes of continuous deteriorating achievements of the pupils in primary school
Mathematics.
In
the same Vein, Alebiosu (1997) opened that interest is one of fundamental
factors necessary for effective Mathematics Education. Suydam and Risedesel
(1989) in their report of some research findings, said that students attitude
towards Mathematics is related to intelligence and achievement while rate of
learning is positively corrected to intelligence. Chritensen (1988) observed
that grades do not necessary motivate or stimulate learning and students’
learning do not decrease or enhance the possibility of a failure or high grade.
Neale (1989) quoted Mager (1986) as saying “favorable attitude towards a school
subject maximize the possibility that a student will willingly learn more about
the subject, remember what he has learned”.
Students’
attitude is another factor highly associated with success and motivation.
Having high ability or skills does not guarantees that students will enjoy
working at an activity or perform successfully on the task. Often students need
to have an internal drive and a positive mindset about the learning task in
order to sustain motivation. Attitudes and beliefs are regarded as precursors
of behaviours and behavioural intentions. Students with positive attitudes are
more likely to sustain their efforts and have the desire to be involved in the
learning tasks.
Loyd and Gressard (1984) found that
student’s attitudes about computers were strongly related to their success in
computer-related tasks. A study by Mattern and Schau (2002) showed that
positive attitude toward science is related positively to achievement.
Germann
(1988) reported that attitudes toward science influence students’ attainment,
consistency, and quality of work. In reviewing the literature about attitudes
toward science over the past 20 years, Osborne, Simon, and Collins (2003) noted
that research has indicated a decline in attitudes toward science in general
and their attitudes toward school science. Students consider science itself
interesting and useful but regard science classes as boring (Ebenezer &
Zoller, 1993). Teachers, curricula, and culture, among other factors, were
cited as influence on students’ attitudes (Osborne, et al., 2003). Thus, how
science is taught in classroom can affect learners’ interest in science as a
subject and a career.
Problems Associated with Poor Academic
Performance in Examinations
Adelusi
(1982) stressed that the most familiar criticism of schools is that of
“irrelevance” the word has become a cliché. Irrelevance, of course can mean
many things to many people. Students, when they accuse schools of irrelevance,
usually think they are talking about what they are taught and it is true that
schools are occasionally guilty of starting irrelevances in the subjects matter
taught.
But
if it changes, as it becomes from Young stars seems vague and highly flexible
and subjective the students who are interested in science, English may be
irrelevant. The student who is bored by the school programme generally,
anything the school wants to teach him is ‘irrelevant’. What is irrelevant to
ma student is simply, knowledge he has no interest in, nor a feeling of
responsibility for acquiring. Clearly this can be anything at all that the
school Teaches.
But
students are unlikely to learn unless they are somehow involved in the process
of learning. They seldom learn much when they are treated simply as passive
receptors. That is, students take little responsibility for their own
education. Such lack of involvement tends to under mine the drive to think for
themselves. Schools discourage students from developing the capacity to learn
by and for themselves. It makes it impossible for a young star to take
responsibility for his own education. For they are structured in such a way as
to make students totally dependent upon the teachers.
Furthermore,
Adesina (1980) Explained that the greatest failure in present day schooling is
that most schools are not successfully teaching students how to learn. Sadly
much of what goes on in schools not only does not promote but actually may not
prevent learning. Children curiosity, and ultimately even their capacity to
learn, may be killed, if the school atmosphere is one of fear.
Also,
it is observed that children like most people, respond to what is expected of
them. If a child perceives that his teacher expects little from him, his own
estimate of his competence may drop. This means that the child whose teacher is
convinced that he cannot learn, very frequently does not learn. Even if the
teacher believes that he is concealing his attitude, the children nearly always
get the message.
Thus,
teacher’s expectations can affect a student’s performance in class work or
public examination. The teacher who assures that her student cannot learn is
likely to discover that she has class of children who are indeed, unable to
learn, yet another teacher working with the same class but without the same
expectation may discover that she has a class of interested leaners. The same
obtains with respect to behaviour, the teacher who assures that the student
will be disruptive is likely to have a disruptive class on her hands.
On
the other hand, the child whose teacher expect good things from him very often
achieve well, no matter what his initial disadvantages are. According to the
author (Suberman1980) in every successful programme, a major reason for success
is the fact that director and teacher who expect their students to succeed,
will hold themselves, not only their students, accountable if the teacher
should fail. Faith does seem to move children, if not mountains, because what a
teacher believes about a child’s attitude has such power to shape a child’s
performance in school, of course in public examination.
Similarly
it is stressed that it should be born in mind that the inputs into the
secondary schools in 1980/81 session had some political undertone. In view of
the mushrooming of secondary schools, the services of grade two teachers
certificate holders and associateship diploma teachers were enlisted, which
obviously affected the quality of instruction in our secondary school
In
many schools, the number of unqualified teachers was about 75%.
There
were even cases of associateship diploma teachers up to form five in various
subjects especially Yoruba, Mathematics, English Language and Bible Knowledge.
No wonder the results were poor.
Also
the attitudes of some teachers to their job leave much to be desired. This is
however reflected in the poor attendance to lesson lateness to school,
reluctance to participate in co-curricular activities, unsavory comments about
students performance, such as those capable of damaging their goals, inadequate
preparation of lessons, teaching without relevant and adequate instruction aids
and poor relationship with their students (Akinyemi 1983).
It
was also observed that the inherent nature of some people does not permit them
toward effectiveness without supervision. Some school principals are more
preoccupied with administrative jobs by way of attending meetings, conferences,
and spending hours in the office without necessarily knowing what is going on
in the classrooms. Such principal also tend to be meticulous to an extent that
they do not delegate functions to their heads of departments. Teachers
therefore become so loose, lazy and indolent to the extent that they often
refuse to attend classes.
It
is also observed that the human relations of some school managers are
defective. They are authoritarian or psendo-democratic in their approach to
leadership. Therefore, teachers become indifferent to identifying themselves
with the success of the school programmes. This poor attitude affects their
participation in curricular and co-curricular activities.
It
is also stressed that experience has shown that in the past, education was
over-politicized. Education should however not be seen as a bait or tool for
attracting votes without due considerations to available infrastructure. The
mushrooming or proliferation of schools without corresponding increase in terms
of physical plants, teachers, funds, instructional materials and other forms of
educational facilities increase the chances of emphasis on quantity at the
alter of quality.
School
buildings were inadequate, laboratories were poorly equipped, teachers were
unqualified. The phenomena increase in students enrolment ands also increase administrative
problems since the system was becoming more complex for effective management.
It was observed that school inspectors were inadequate to actually determine
the adequacy of materials and teachers work in schools. This was however
precipitated by the proliferation of schools coupled with the poor geographical
location of some schools thus inhibiting easy accessibility of inspectors
especially during poor weather.
Educational
facilities in term of qualified teachers well-equipped laboratories, recreational
material, standard libraries, standard classrooms, and instructional materials
were inadequate in schools. These constraints limit the chances of students
success.
It
is also emphasized that pupils become less enchanted to their studies. More interest
is taken in finding some crude means of achieving success, frequent attendance
to disco parties without necessarily been reprimanded by parents. The pupil’s
low commitment is reflected in lateness to school, absenteeism, failure to do
assignment or revise lessons at home, sex debasement, recalcitrance and other
forms of immoral behaviours.
Due
to the society problem that places preponderate emphasis on physical
achievements, pupils therefore become nonchalant to education because of the
low level of immediate returns. They become more interested in venture that can
produce immediate returns and those that can make them become rich rather than
academic that makes it difficult for one to spend freely. Therefore, most of
them prefer brisk business (Ayeni 1986).
Empirical Studies on Correlation
Between Attitudes to and Academic Performance in Mathematics.
Ale
(1986) having investigated relationship between attitudes of students and their
performance in mathematics as a school subject in Owo local government area,
Ondo State, found out that:
(ii)
Attitude
of students towards mathematics are not favourable (46.6% favourability to
53.47 of unfavourable).
(iii)
Performance
of students in mathematics is bad (22.6%) scored above 50% in mathematics
during the promotion examination.
(iv)
There
exists a correlation between the
attitudes of the students sampled towards mathematics and their performance in
the subject (r = 0.58)
(v)
There
is no relationship between the sex of students and their performance in
mathematics (Y2 2.3, a = 0.01, d.f = 1)
(vi)
There
are shortage of qualified mathematics teachers in most of the schools used as
samples,
Awofolaju (1987) also investigated
the relationship between students attitude towards mathematics and their
performance at Ile-Ife and came up with the following findings:
(i)
The
attitude of the students towards mathematics are generally negative.
(ii)
There
is a moderate positive relationship between the students attitude towards
mathematics and their performance in it ( Male = 0.54, Female = 0.60)
(iii)
Sex
differences have no effect on the attitude of the students towards mathematics
and their performance in it (Male = 0.54, female = 0.60)
(iv)
The
factors that are responsible for the students’ negative attiude towards
mathematics were found to include the following:-
Lack
of qualified teachers, poor background at the elementary level, lack of
encouragement from parents, and misconception of the subject.
(v)
There
is no motivation by the teachers and the government to encourage the students
to learn the subject.
Ripps
(1985) worked on the same topic with mathematics course taken at the community
college in Nassau country New York. Using separate canonical analyses
for males and females the following findings were found.
(i)
Confidence
in mathematics emerged as the single most important variable in the
relationship for both males and females.
(ii)
For
males, their attitudes related most strongly to their intention to pursue
mathematics in the future.
(iii)
For
females, their attitudes related most strongly to their poor course taking
patterns.
(iv)
Usefulness
appeared to be moderately important in the
relationship for both males and females
(v)
The
least important variable in the relationship for both males and females was
stereotyping mathematics as male domain.
(vi)
The
important of final grade in the relationship was about the same for male and females.
Reason for Student Dislike
Mathematics
Students tend to dislike mathematics
because of poor or weak background. Lack of encouragement or motivation is
another reason. Others are the use of unfamiliar notations and inconclusive words,
societal attractions or pleasure such as film watching, disco party attendance
and other distractions contribute to students’ failure (Ofoegbu, 2005).
Questionnaire
methods was used by DVTTON – and BLUM (1968) to examine the reasons for liking
or disliking arithmetic (Business Mathematics) in three hundred and forty six
(346) secondary school students in minnesola, U.S.A. These students learn
mathematics for about a year. They found that the most rampant or frequent
reasons for students hatred for Arithmetic were countless or numerous and
ranged from working problems outside school, frustrating wordy question or
problems, too many theorems and formula cramming, lot of rules to master and
possibility of making comprehension and calculative error or mistakes. They
also submitted that a greater proportion of the students were of the opinion
and view that Arithmetic should be made optional or avoidable whenever possible
and that mathematics is not used in everyday life and that arithmetic processes
are wasting of time energy.
Academic background of The Students
Onwudidgwu and Ajumobi (1988) have
this to say that, “the teaching of mathematics is wrongly handled at the
primary school into the secondary school with negative opinion already formed
about mathematics as a subject of study. The end result is that mass failure of
Students at SSCE in Mathematics in our schools continues to be course……. This
is the sad irony of Nigeria
situation described as vicious circle”.
In
his point of view Kenku (1988) observed “I do not believe mathematics is a
terror in this country at this age of our development”. According to him, the
major problem is lack mo f good foundation. Problems are bound to crop up along
the line” He concluded, Mathematics is a discipline which requires logical
thinking. So teachers who teach this subject should be trained and retrained.
Teachers’ Experience
The Chamber Universal Learners’
Dictionary of the English Language gives the meaning of experience as
knowledge, skill or wisdom gained through practice in some activities or the
doing of something.
Adewumi
(1982) on the other hand commented about those who have stayed long in a job
(i.e. experienced teachers) that despite the long years of experience, the good
teachers run away in terms of knowledge which is not refreshed for lack of
adequate in service training.
With
the present day development many experienced teachers without adequate
in-service training are now trooping into universities on Sandwich
basis to update their knowledge, equally, the unqualified teacher in Education
which is serving as solution to some of the problems passed by qualification of
teachers to the performance of students in Mathematics.
Gender Difference
Gender differences in mathematics
classes have been reported in cognitive processes related to problem
solving. Grieb (1982) reported that girls memorize specific solutions to
problems, whereas boys tend to evaluate and use more complex problem solutions.
It is reported that girls are less likely than boys to develop a set of
motivational characteristics that facilitate achievement in mathematics and science,
especially at the higher grade levels. Anderman and Young (1994) indicated in
their studies that girls reports less confidence than boys in their ability to
perform well on science tasks in the classrooms. Mathematics and sciences are
generally viewed as masculine domains of achievement.
The 1992 National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) as presented by Meece and Jones (1996) revealed
that American boys have higher average scores than girls at ages 9, 13 and 17. There
has not been any significant reduction in the gender gap since 1970, even
though girls are showing improvements. Gender differences appear larger in
favour of the boys at the higher achievement levels.
For
this reason, greater percentage of female in our society could not go far in
the study of science and Mathematics related courses in our higher
institutions. This is reflected in the number of boys and girls entering for
and passing the Senior Certificate Examination in Mathematics and other science
subjects. For example Ecclestin, Broken and Borrow (1991) analyzed the results
of boys and girls at the General Certificate Examination (GCE) found that boys
out performed girls in all technical subject including Mathematics.
Appraisal of the Related Literature
The bedrock of the chains of the
problems facing teaching and learning of mathematics and the poor performance
resulted there of, is the negative and non-challant attitude of students
towards the subject in the Secondary Schools in Nigeria and these affect the
progress of mathematics and the progress in technological development of the
nation (Bakare, 1986).
Studies
conducted by various researchers such as [ Adesina (1980), Adewumi (1982),
Bakare (1986) and Ojo (1986), said that the afore-mentioned parental cause has
chains of tributary hindrance factors such as objective and nature of senior
secondary school mathematics, attitude of students towards mathematics,
empirical studies on correlation between students attitude and their academic
performance, trends of students academic performance in mathematics, problems associated
with poor academic performance in mathematics examination etc. could be
identified as the causes of students’ negative attitude and poor performance in
mathematics.
Conclusively, parents, school authority,
the three levels of government, that is, the local, state and federal
governments contribute greatly to the problems of ineffective learning of
mathematics and its consequential poor performance of the student in Nigeria
secondary schools.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This
chapter discusses the techniques and procedures for gathering and analyzing the
research data. The chapter has been sub-divided into: Research Design, Sample
and Sampling Techniques, Research Instrument, Validation of Research
Instrument, Reliability of the Instrument, Procedure for Data Collection and
Data Analysis Techniques.
Research Design
The
present investigation is a descriptive study using survey method in which
information about the student attitudes and their performance in mathematics
was sought. In addition this was conducted to find the types of attitudes that
were common to the students in the mathematics in Ogbomoso. Questionnaire was
used to elicit responses from students.
Sample and Sampling Techniques
The
target population for this study was mathematics students in senior secondary
school (SSS III) in Ogbomoso South in Oyo State.
The sample was drawn from private and public secondary schools. Five schools
were selected each from the types of secondary school (private and public).
Twenty students were also chosen from each school to make a total of two
hundred students, all the student were in the senior secondary school two (SSS
II). This level of students were chosen
because the researcher believed that at this level the students would be able
to express themselves independently about their abilities in mathematics.
Students were group into two (2) based on gender one hundred (100) male and (100)
female all the students used were randomly sampled as indicated in the table 1.
Table 1: School used for the study
School type
|
School code
|
Number of male
|
Number of female
|
Total
|
Public
|
A
|
10
|
10
|
20
|
B
|
10
|
10
|
20
|
|
C
|
10
|
10
|
20
|
|
D
|
10
|
10
|
20
|
|
E
|
10
|
10
|
20
|
|
Private
|
F
|
10
|
10
|
20
|
G
|
10
|
10
|
20
|
|
H
|
10
|
10
|
20
|
|
I
|
10
|
10
|
20
|
|
J
|
10
|
10
|
20
|
Research Instrument
The
instruments used are questionnaires and the students result. The researcher
employed the use of questionnaire techniques to reveal hidden facts that may
not be documented. The questions were presented in form of a structure
questionnaire to enable the researcher obtain valid and reliable information
from the respondents who are in senior secondary school two (SSS II).
Validation of the Instrument
The questionnaire was given to the
following experts to determine the validity of the instrument: two lecturers in
Mathematics education, a lecture in Science education and an English language
lecturer, all from the University
of Ilorin as well as two
mathematics teachers from secondary school. The experts were asked to scrutinize
the items on the questionnaire as variable such as clear direction, relevance
and adequacy of items. The comment and suggestions of these experts were used
to produce the final draft. The content and face validity of the instrument
were also done by the experts.
Reliability of the Instruments
The test-retest reliability procedure
was used to determine the reliability co-efficient of the instrument. Pearson
product moment correlation was used on the scores of the test and retest. The
reliability coefficient was determined and this proved a coefficient of 0.82
the instrument was considered fairly reliable.
Procedure for Data Collection
A
letter of introduction of the researcher seeking permission from principals of
each school and mathematics teachers in various schools selected were sought.
The researcher personally administered the instrument to the students and after
30 minute, all the questionnaire were collected back immediately from the
students.
Data Analysis Techniques
The
data collected were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation
Coefficient r statistics to analyse all the research hypotheses raised.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND
RESULTS
This chapter presents the analyses of data
collected on correlation between students’ attitude and their performance in
mathematics in Ogbomoso-south local government of Oyo State.
The data were treated through frequency count, and Pearson Product Moment
Correlation Coefficient r statistics at a level of 0.05 probability alpha
level.
Hypotheses Testing
HO1: There is no significant correlation
between students’ academic performance and their attitude towards mathematics.
Table 1: Correlation analysis between
performance and
Attitude
of students’ toward Mathematics
S/N
|
X
Performance
|
Y
Attitude
|
 X-X |
 Y-Y |
X2
|
Y2
|
XY
|
1.
|
45.7
|
19.95
|
-0.58
|
-0.125
|
0.3364
|
0.156
|
0.0725
|
2.
|
55.55
|
21.95
|
9.27
|
1.875
|
85.9329
|
3.5156
|
17.3813
|
3.
|
38.3
|
16.8
|
-7.8
|
-3.275
|
63.6804
|
10.7256
|
26.1345
|
4.
|
45.75
|
20.7
|
-0.53
|
0.625
|
0.2809
|
0.3906
|
-0.3313
|
5.
|
42.85
|
20.1
|
-3.43
|
0.025
|
11.7649
|
0.000625
|
-0.0858
|
6.
|
40.8
|
17.85
|
-5.48
|
-2.225
|
30.0304
|
4.9506
|
12.193
|
7.
|
45.5
|
19.25
|
-0.78
|
-0.825
|
0.6084
|
0.6806
|
0.6435
|
8.
|
47.35
|
21.85
|
1.07
|
1.775
|
1.1449
|
3.1506
|
1.8993
|
9.
|
58.5
|
22.9
|
12.22
|
2.825
|
149.3284
|
7.9806
|
34.5215
|
10.
|
42.5
|
19.4
|
-3.78
|
-0.675
|
14.2884
|
0.4556
|
2.5515
|
Total
|
462.8
|
200.75
|
357.396
|
31.866
|
94.98
|
X = SXi = 462.8 = 46.28
n
10
Y = SYi = 200.75 = 20.075
n
10
r = S (X – X) (Y – Y) = 94.98 = 0.89 
S (X – X)2 S (Y-Y)2 = 357.396 X 31.866
r
calculated value = 0.89, Table value = 0.632
Since
the calculated r value = 0.89 is greater than that of the table value = 0.632,
then the null hypothesis is rejected. There is a strong correlation between the
academic performance of students in mathematics and attitude of students
towards mathematics.
HO2: There is no significant correlation between
the attitude of male and their female counterpart towards mathematics.
Table
2: Correlation analysis between the
attitude of male and female toward the mathematics.
S/N
|
X
Male
|
Y
Female
|
 X-X |
Y-Y |
X2
|
Y2
|
XY
|
1.
|
19.4
|
20.5
|
-1.59
|
1.34
|
2.5281
|
1.7956
|
-2.1306
|
2.
|
21.3
|
22.6
|
0.31
|
3.44
|
0.0961
|
11.8336
|
1.0664
|
3.
|
17.9
|
15.7
|
-3.09
|
-3.46
|
9.5481
|
11.9716
|
10.6914
|
4.
|
22.3
|
17.1
|
2.11
|
-2.06
|
1.7161
|
4.2436
|
-2.6986
|
5.
|
23.1
|
17.1
|
2.11
|
-2.06
|
4.4521
|
4.2436
|
-4.3466
|
6.
|
19.5
|
16.2
|
-1.49
|
-2.96
|
2.2201
|
8.7616
|
4.4104
|
7.
|
19.4
|
19.1
|
-1.59
|
-0.06
|
2.5281
|
0.0036
|
0.0954
|
8.
|
23.5
|
20.2
|
2.51
|
1.04
|
6.3001
|
1.0816
|
2.6104
|
9.
|
21.6
|
24.2
|
0.61
|
5.04
|
0.3721
|
25.4016
|
3.0744
|
10.
|
21.9
|
16.9
|
0.91
|
-2.26
|
0.8281
|
5.1076
|
-2.0566
|
Total
|
209.9
|
191.6
|
30.5839
|
70.2004
|
10.716
|
X = SXi = 209.9 = 20.99
n 10
Y = SYi = 191.6 = 19.16
n
10
r = S
(X – X) (Y – Y) = 10.716 = 0.23 S (X – X)2 S (Y-Y)2 = 30.5839 X 70.2004
r-calculated
value = 0.23, Table value = 0.632
Since the calculated r value = 0.23
is less than table value = 0.632, the null hypothesis is not rejected.
There is no correlation between the
attitude of male and female students towards mathematics.
HO3: There is no significant different
between the performance of male and female students towards mathematics.
Table
3: Correlation analysis between the
male and female performances in mathematics
S/N
|
X
Male
|
Y
Female
|
X-X |
Y-Y |
X2
|
Y2
|
XY
|
1.
|
43.8
|
47.6
|
-2.94
|
1.85
|
8.6436
|
3.4225
|
-5.439
|
2.
|
55.1
|
56
|
8.36
|
10.25
|
69.8896
|
105.0625
|
85.69
|
3.
|
46.4
|
30.2
|
-0.34
|
-15.55
|
0.1156
|
241.8025
|
5.287
|
4.
|
44.2
|
47.3
|
-2.54
|
1.55
|
6.4516
|
2.4025
|
-3.937
|
5.
|
44.4
|
41.3
|
-2.34
|
-4.45
|
5.4756
|
19.8025
|
10.413
|
6.
|
42.9
|
38.7
|
-3.84
|
-7.05
|
14.7456
|
49.7025
|
27.072
|
7.
|
44
|
47
|
-2.74
|
1.25
|
7.5076
|
1.5625
|
-3.425
|
8.
|
46.4
|
48.3
|
-0.34
|
2.55
|
0.1156
|
6.5025
|
-0.867
|
9.
|
52.6
|
64.4
|
5.86
|
18.65
|
34.3396
|
347.8225
|
109.289
|
10.
|
47.6
|
36.7
|
0.86
|
-9.05
|
0.7396
|
81.9025
|
-7.783
|
Total
|
467.4
|
457.4
|
148.024
|
859.985
|
216.3
|
X = SXi = 467.4 = 46.74
n
10
Y = SYi = 457.5 = 45.75
n
10
r = S
(X – X) (Y – Y) = 216.3 S (X – X)2 S (Y-Y)2 = (148.024) (859.985)
r = 216.3 = 0.606
127,298.4196
r-calculated
value = 0.606, Table value = 0.632
Since the calculated r value = 0.606
is less than that of the table value = 0.632, then the null hypothesis is accepted.
There is no correlation between male
and female academic performance in mathematics.
Summary of the Major Findings
Ten
secondary schools were randomly chosen in Ogbomosho South of Oyo State. Twenty
students were also selected randomly in each of the selected results.
The
summary of the findings is as followed:
The
research work was based on the academic performance of students in mathematics
and their attitude towards mathematics.
There
is correlation between male and female students’ academic performance in
mathematics.
It also shows that the attitudes of
students towards mathematics is not determined by their gender.
The
result shows that academic performance of students in mathematics is highly
correlated with the subject. This implies that a poor performance of students
in mathematics was as a result of students’ negative attitude towards the study
of mathematics.
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION,
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This
chapter deals with the summary, conclusions, recommendations and suggestions
for further research work.
Discussion of Findings
The
discussion of the findings of the study is presented in this section, for
through understanding of the variables formulated under investigation as
indicated in the questionnaire.
The
study revealed that poor performance of students’ negative attitude towards
mathematics. Adegboye (1991) supported the assumption by contented that one of
the major factors causing poor performance in mathematics is the negative
attitude of the students. Cox (1980) asserted that a learner’s attitude affects
what he learns, what he remembers and what he does. Ojo (1986) in his article
on how to improve mathematics teaching in our school said that attitude is one
of the problems facing the teaching of mathematics and that pupils’ and
teachers’ attitude towards mathematics are contributing towards learning and
teaching the subjects.
The
study also revealed that male student performed better than the female student
in mathematics. This achievement of male and female students respectively is
brought about by their attitude towards the subject. Ojo (1986) supported this
assumption. He pointed out that many student particularly, female have negative
attitude towards mathematics. He concluded that the reason for the negative
attitude of the female students might be because they are often told that
mathematics is a masculine subject which belongs to a selected few. Using
cognitive domain, affective measure and attitude towards mathematics.
Osafehinti (1988) find that there is significant difference in achievement in
mathematics between boys and girls in favour of boys.
Conclusion
This
research has been of help in widening the experience of the researcher. From
the data analysis, it was clear shown that poor academic performance in
mathematics is caused by negative attitudes of students towards the study of
mathematics. The gender of students also has effect on the performance of
students in mathematics.
Also, most schools lack instructional
materials for effective teaching of the subject. The attitude of the teachers
towards the teaching of the course also affect the attitude of the students
towards the study of mathematics which in turn affect their performances in the
subject.
Recommendations
Based
on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made:
(i)
Government
and Secondary school principals should organize workshop for mathematics
teachers. This will enable the teacher to know that their positive attitude to
the teaching of mathematics will also improve students’ attitude to the
subject.
(ii)
Government
should provide adequate teaching aids, textbooks and other materials needed for
the teaching of mathematics.
(iii)
Government
and individuals should provide scholarship award for students having high marks
in mathematics. This will encourage other students.
(iv)
Government
and school principals should organize mathematics competitions among students
from different schools.
(v)
Television/
Radio stations can also help by showing or playing programmes that can help
students to develop interest in mathematics.
(vi)
More
attention should be paid on the female students in the area of mathematics.
Suggestion for further studies
Other
researchers should make efforts to find out other factors that may contribute
to negative attitude of students towards mathematics in our secondary schools.
Such factors may include; whether a student
goes for extra classes on mathematics after school or not, etc.
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