Page 1 of 8
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 08
September 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 153
Attitude as Correlate of Students Academic Achievement in
Mathematics at the Senior Secondary School Level in Delta State.
Aghanenu Odogwu Emeke ; Aliogo Ukamaka Benedicta
Department of Curriculum and Integrated Science (Mathematics Unit), Faculty of Education, Delta State
University Abraka.
Email: Mekinsmek@gmail.com. Email: ukamakabenedicta@gmail.com
Abstract
This study examined attitude as correlate
of student’s academic achievement in
mathematics at the senior secondary school
level in Ukwuani Local Government Area of
Delta State, Nigeria. The study employed survey
research design. The sample for the study
comprised of three hundred and sixty (360) SS2
and SS3 students randomly selected from ten
(10) Public Secondary Schools in Ukwuani
Local Government Area of Delta State. The
instruments used were Students Attitude
Towards Mathematics Questionnaire (SATMQ)
and Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT). The
mean and standard deviation were used as the
descriptive statistics while the pearsor’s r in
ferential statistics were used to analyze the data
collected. Three hypothesis were tested at 0.05
level of significance. The result revealed that;
there is a positive significant relationship
between students attitude towards mathematics
and students academic achievement in
mathematics. There is a positive significant
relationship between attitude of male students
towards mathematics and students academic
achievement in mathematics. There is a positive
significant relationship between attitude of
female students towards mathematics and
students academic achievement in mathematics.
Considering the central role of attitude in
students academic achievement, it was
recommended among others: teachers
should help foster in students positive attitude
towards mathematics that helps to build
confidence in students. Parents should
encourage and sustain positive attitude towards
mathematics in their children by providing the
necessary materials for learning mathematics
and ensuring that the home is conducive for
learning.
Keywords: Attitude, Mathematics,
Achievement, Correlate.
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Mathematics is the oldest of all sciences
that have developed through the ages having a
direct impact on the quality of human life on our
planet. It is unanimously agreed that
mathematics is the language of science and
technology and also in some other disciplines
like art and culture, holding the key to
development and progress of the country as well
as humanity as a whole. In elementary stage, the
base on mathematics should be imposed to
develop mental observation and creativity or
innovativeness. According to Ezeweani [2006]
the competence gain in the study of mathematics
is widely used in all spheres of human life.
Mathematics play a key role in shaping how
individuals deal with the various spheres of
private, social and civic life. This justifies the
Page 2 of 8
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 08
September 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 154
compulsion of the study of the subject by all
students who go through basic and secondary
education in most countries particularly Nigeria.
It is regrettable, therefore, that in the
contemporary times many students struggle with
mathematics and perform abysmally low in their
examinations in school. It has been realized that
many students have developed negative attitude
towards the study of mathematics as a result of
mass failure of students in the subject. It is an
irrefutable fact that the successfulness of
learning mathematics is contingent on a myriad
of factors, school, classroom, student and
teacher factors all impinge on the learning of
mathematics.
Educational researches have expended
time and energy trying to unravel the possible
causes of students poor attitudes and
performance in mathematics. Research findings
according to Yara [2009] indicates that effective
teachers facilitate learning by truly caring about
their students engagement and creating the right
atmosphere that enhances students learning.
According to Watson [2002], they have high yet
realistic expectations about enhancing students
capacity to think, reason, communicate, reflect
upon and critique their own practice and they
provide students with opportunity to ask why the
class is doing certain things and with what
effect. The relationships that develop in
classroom become resource for developing
students attitudes and mathematical
competencies and identities.
Attitude as a concept is concerned with
an individual’s way of thinking, acting and
behaving. It has very serious implications for the
learner, the teacher, the immediate social group
with which the individual learner relates and the
entire school system. Attitudes are formed as a
result of some kind of learning experiences
students go through. As stated by Yara [2007],
attitude in this respect avails the learner the
opportunity to draw from his teacher’s
disposition to form his own attitude, which may
like affect his learning outcomes. Yara [2009]
also avers that teachers with positive attitudes
towards mathematics were explained to
stimulate favourable attitude in their students.
This immediately puts the teacher in the
spotlight as one whose attitude, expressed in
their behavior has a telling effect on students.
Mohammed and Waheed [2011] in their
work aimed at understanding attitudes and the
influences on the their development in relation
to difference between students, identified three
groups of factors that play vital role in
influencing students attitudes; factors associated
with the students themselves [for example,
mathematical achievement, anxiety, self efficacy
and self-concept, motivation and experiences at
school], factor associated with the school,
teacher and teaching [for example, teaching
materials, classroom management, teachers
knowledge, attitude towards mathematics,
beliefs), and finally factors from the home,
environment and society [examples include
educational background, parental expectations].
Resulting from these observations, this
study is geared towards looking at attitudes as
correlate of students academic achievement in
mathematics at the senor secondary school level.
Since attitude may vary according to a lot of
factors, the researcher will want to find out how
various attitudes impact or students achievement
in mathematics.
Statement of the problem
There is a general consensus among
educators that mathematics is an important and
user subject for the development of every
country. Despite it’s importance and influence, it
is a subject most feared by students of the
primary and secondary levels of Nigeria’s
Page 3 of 8
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 08
September 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 155
educational system. Students are seen to develop
unwholesome attitudes towards the subject and
the teacher, lack of interest in class activities and
non-compliance to assignment. Therefore, this
study aims at investigating attitude as correlates
of student academic achievement of students in
mathematics.
Research Questions
This study sought to answer the
following research questions.
1. What relationship exist between students
attitude towards mathematics and their
academic achievement?
2. What relationship exist between students
attitude toward the mathematics teacher
and their academic achievement of
students.?
3. Does gender affect attitude or the
academic achievement of students in
Mathematics?
Hypotheses
Three null hypotheses were also postulated and
tested.
Ho: There is no significant relationship between
attitude of students towards mathematics and
students academic achievement in mathematics
Ho2: There is no significant relationship between
the attitude of male students towards
mathematics and their academic achievement in
mathematics.
Ho3: There is no significant relationship between
the attitude of female students towards
mathematics and their academic achievement in
mathematics
Method
Research Design
The study adopted the survey design
since it is a correlational study. According to
Anderson (1998) correlational studies
investigate a number of variables believed to be
related to an important variable (achievement).
Population and Sample of the study
The population included mathematics
students at the senior secondary level (SS II –
SS III only) in the public secondary schools in
Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta
State. The sample was taken from ten (10)
schools from which 360 students in SS II and SS
III. The simple random sampling was used for
making this selection.
Research instruments
Two instruments were used for
collecting data for this study. The first
instrument is the student attitude towards
mathematics questionnaire (SATMQ) which was
divided into three sections (student attitude to
mathematics, students attitudes towards the
mathematics teacher and students attitude on the
basis of gender). It is a 14 item questionnaire
with four possible answers for each using a four
possible answer. The second instrument is the
mathematics achievement test (MAT) which is a
50 item multiple choice objective test adapted
from the May/June 2013 West African
Examination Council (WAEC) objective test. In
order to maintain anonymity, each student was
assigned a number so that scores between the
two data collected can be correlated.
Validity and Reliability of instruments
The content and face validity of the
instruments were determined by two experts in
the department of curriculum and integrated
science, Delta State University, Abraka. The
instruments were revised using suggestions
made by the experts. A pilot study was
conducted on two schools to establish the
reliability of the instruments. A total of 50
mathematics students (13.86%) of the total
respondents were used.
Method of data collection
