Title: Significance of offering further mathematics and personal interest in mathematics on some variables common to secondary school students

Authors: I.L. Animasaun

Addresses: Faculty of Education, National Open University of Nigeria, Nigeria; Department of Mathematical Sciences, Fluid Dynamics and Survey Research Group, The Federal University of Technology, Akure, PMB 704, Nigeria

Abstract: Improvement of students' performance in school-based subjects like mathematics has been an ongoing debate among parents, educators, and academicians. However, little is known on the significance of offering further mathematics and personal interest in mathematics. This report presents the variations in home support, self-efficacy, active learning strategies, attitude of students towards mathematics, and academic achievement between students that offered further mathematics and those that did not offer the subject. Also, the variations in the five dependent variables between three groups of students on the basis of personal interest for mathematics is deliberated upon using survey research. The findings revealed that students who offered further mathematics significantly asked for more home support and consequently possess better active learning strategies. Statistically, there exists a wide gap in home support, self-efficacy, active learning strategies, attitude of students towards mathematics, and academic achievement between students with weak, average, and strong interest in mathematics.

Keywords: home support; self-efficacy; active learning strategies; attitude towards mathematics; academic performance; further mathematics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLC.2021.118506

International Journal of Learning and Change, 2021 Vol.13 No.6, pp.640 - 655

Received: 08 Feb 2019
Accepted: 04 Mar 2020
Published online: 27 Oct 2021 *

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