Teaching, Learning Mathematics - Declarations vs Facts

Abstract

The study compares the mathematical achievements of high school students with their attitudes towards and perceptions of this subject. The study was conducted amongst students (n = 870) in the final (graduating) year of general high schools. Its purpose was to examine the relationship between the general performance in mathematics and attitude towards the subject, and to compare the general performance in mathematics of high school students with different attitudes towards mathematics. The correlation between mathematical abilities of general high school students and their attitude towards mathematics was found to be moderate. What is more, the correlation between attitudes towards mathematics and students’ ability to solve tasks was found to be weak. Therefore, it can be concluded that if a student has a high or low ability to solve tasks, it does not necessarily mean that their attitude towards mathematics is also high or low, and the results achieved by the students are determined by the fact that taking an exam in mathematics is compulsory for final-year students rather than by the willingness to learn the subject. Students who are not enthusiastic about maths also take the compulsory final exams and very often their maths exam results were good.