CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Personal Reflections
My experience as a mathematics teacher at Junior High School over the last decade has been interesting, educative, motivating and acquisition of experiences. Why do I say this? Many at times I have listened to statements like these from my students: “as for mathematics it is difficult “o”, Sir as for me, I don’t like mathematics at all, please, I don’t want to do Science at the SHS, yes because of the mathematics associated with science”, their response any time I have asked from them. Those and similar comments from my students have continued to be a worrying situation for me and therefore I keep asking myself why students would have such attitudes toward the subject I have liked all my school years, enjoyed so well and have become habituated.
As I listen to those comments from students, the zeal developed in me to research into the reasons that have necessitated such comments, thus the topic “analysis of junior high school (JHS) students’ attitudes toward mathematics and its effect on their academic achievement: the case of Asunafo south district.”
Background to the Study
Mathematics has mastered virtually every area of human activity, especially in the era of science and technology. Mathematics is therefore a key element of the curriculum (Mahanta and Islam, 2012). Mathematics to the best of Morali, Köroğlu and Çelik (2004) is a thought, a way of life and, in fact, a globally accepted language that is considered as essential in the rapidly changing world, and is a key area for individuals, society,
technological advancement and scientific research community. To this end, Keith (2000) firmly stated that mathematics is considered a critical issue both by itself and through its important relationships with various fields, such as social science, natural science, medicine, engineering among others. Reasoning along with the same pattern, Usman (2002) considers that mathematics is a problem that permeates all aspects of human endeavor and is considered as the lifeline of several disciplines. Anthony and Walshaw (2009) contribute to the discourse by viewing mathematics as a key international curriculum subject that makes a critical input to all aspects of life in the private, social and urban spheres. That is, almost all subjects/areas of study/ life centres on mathematics education. Mathematics is, therefore, a global subject of study, and as such play, a critical role in all countries school curricular, especially the beginning stages.
Mathematics education in Ghana like in many other developing countries was keen even in the colonial era, a time when religious education was most considered in schools. Annabelle-Addo (1980) as cited in Serebour (2013) expounds on colonial era history to mathematics education, where arithmetic was taught as part of the curriculum to improve commercial activities. It is therefore not surprising that in Ghana mathematics is considered a core subject in the basic school (primary and junior high school) and secondary school curricular and an integral part of the school placement system in Ghana. A student must have a pass in mathematics, which is a core subject for entry into Senior High Schools in Ghana. Consequently, a Ghanaian student is required to pass three core subjects before he/she gains admission to Colleges or any Tertiary institutions.
It also fits why, as clearly stated in the Junior High School syllabus in Ghana, mathematics education is deemed an essential area of learning and that everyone needs to
develop mathematical concepts and skills to understand and play its role in society (CRDD, 2012). Moreover, Serebour (2013) explains that the real reason for teaching mathematics is to ensure that all Ghanaian youth acquire the skills, ideas, attitudes and mathematical values they need to succeed in their careers and their daily lives. However, mathematics performance (achievement) has become a serious threat to the educational progress and advancement of students in Ghana.
The poor performance of mathematics students has been fundamental for Ghana and the world at large, as evidenced by national and international reports. For example, the performance of BECE students over the last 18 years has been very worrying. The West African Examination Council (WAEC) reports suggesting that over 50 percent of the entire students who sat for the examination failed in mathematics and decline to about a 40-percentage point in 2000 to 2005 and 2006 to 2010 respectively. The poor performance is again evident in the school placement statistics. In 2008, for instance, out of the 338,292 candidates who took part in the BECE, only 210,282 representing 62.16 percent qualified and placed into second cycle institutions. In the following year, 395,649 students sat for the exams and only 198,642 of them accounting for 50.21 percent passed and ended up second cycle institutions. Ghana has continued to witness poor performance of BECE candidates in percentage wise thus 49.12 percent and 46.93 percent in 2010 and 2011 respectively (Okyere-Darko, 2011).
Subsequently, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS) report of 2003 was analyzed by Anamoah-Mensah and Mereku (2005) established that Ghana, performed poorly in Mathematics at grade 8 i.e. Junior High School,form two (2). In furtherance, Anamua-Mensah, Mereku and Asabere-Ameyaw
(2005) in their TIMSS analysis, assessed a very low performance on the part of Ghanaian pupils with a low mean score of 276 as against the international average mean score of
467. Out of the 46 countries that partook in the 2003 TIMSS test, Ghana was ranked 45th.
Similar performance was recorded in 2007 and 2011. The scale scores of 130 and 430 in 2007 were far below the average score of 500 and 800 (Anamuah-Mensah, Mereku and Ghartey-Ampiah, 2008). The performance of students in Mathematics is generally assessed to be poor and therefore the suggestion to help students know or understand the relevance of mathematics in the country’s educational progression to drive change in pupil’s attitude (Chief Examiner’s Report, 2011).
The above chief examiners’ statement resonates with the proposition that the learning of mathematics is not limited only to thinking and reasoning, but it also involves the learner’s attitudes towards learning of the subject (Anthony and Walshaw, 2007; Grootenboer, Lomas, and Ingram, 2008; Kele and Sharma, 2014). Researchers have investigated into the topic and have come out with various views, for example, Mahanta, and Islam (2012) deduced that attitude of students and achievements are positively correlated. They further maintained that students with high attitude scores tend to obtain good scores in mathematics examinations whereas their counterparts with low attitude scores obtain bad marks or scores in mathematics examinations. Furthermore, Denis Waitley, The Winners Edge (1989) as cited in Ayob and Yasin (2017) says:
“The winner’s edge is not in a gifted birth, a high IQ, or in talent. The winner’s edge is all in the attitude, not aptitude. Attitude is the criterion for success.”
This clearly indicates that the attitude towards mathematics has been recognized as one of the determining factors of a person’s success (Ayob and Yasin, 2017). This
confirms the conclusion of Minata and Kamada (1996) that students’ mathematical results and their positive attitude towards mathematics are directly proportional. Thus, increasing student’s mathematical attitude leads to increased student performance in the classroom.
Attitude is very important in teaching and learning any subject, especially in mathematics. Its impact can be either positive or negative in the achievement process. Attitude has to do with the way one conducts him/herself or react to a situation at any point in time.
Statement of the Problem
The poor performance of mathematics has become a global issue. This has resulted in many studies in the area of attitude towards mathematics. Farooq and shah (2008) studied into the topic and came up with a finding that the mathematical success of students is dependent on the attitude of the students towards mathematics. Their study was at the Senior Secondary School level, gender specific and in Pakistan. In addition, Mahanta and Islam (2012) researched into same topic but with concentration at the secondary level as well as emphasis on gender. Moreover, Yaser (2015) in Terkey and still at the secondary level has conducted a similar study. It also brought on board different categories of secondary schools. Though studies exist in the area, the researcher realized that not much have been done at the Junior High School level and most especially in the field of mathematics in Ghana.
In Ghana, Students’ performance (achievement) in Mathematics over the years has become a challenging issue such that the main policy maker, the Ministry of Education and its allied agencies are making frantic efforts to curb the situation. The
WAEC report on mathematics in recent decades has identified the challenge of poor performance of students in the BECE, though, in some years, a minimal improvement was recorded. In most cases, the attitude exhibited by students by way of their approach to answering questions given to them has been an issue for discussion. More emphatically, Chief examiners report (2011) on mathematics expressed concern about the poor performance of students and thus, suggested an attitudinal change in students towards the subject.
TIMSS is an international organization that provides accurate and up-to-date data on the mathematical and scientific achievements of American students and compares that with students from other countries. In this regard, Ghana participated in the TIMSS three consecutive times thus in 2003, 2007 and 2011 with the rankings of 45th out 46 countries, 47th out of 48 and 42nd out of 42 countries, respectively.
