Effects of Primary School Students’ Attitudes Towards Mathematics on Problem-Solving

Year 2020, Volume: 2 Issue: 3, 6 - 17, 15.07.2020

Mustafa Doğan , Ebru Ergül

Abstract

This paper main aims to determine how students' attitudes towards mathematics course affect problem-solving processes during a real mathematical problem-solving activity. Besides, the students’ ability to use problem-solving steps and strategies are also revealed in this study. For the purposes of the research, the following questions are answered:” How do 4th-grade students' attitudes towards mathematics?”, “How do 4th-grade students’ success in mathematics tests?”, “Do the students have knowledge of problem-solving strategies and problem-solving steps?”, “Is there a relation between mathematics attitudes and problem-solving success?”. The research was carried out with 100 randomly selected 4th-grade students in a primary school in Istanbul. A mixed research method was used. The data were collected by using two different sources. “Attitude Scale towards Mathematics Course” scale which is included in the 4th Grade Mathematics Teacher Guide Book was used to determine the students’ attitudes. A worksheet (test) prepared was used to assess students’ problem-solving success. There are a total of 10 mathematical problems in the test. The data both from the test and the attitude scale were analysed. Based on the findings, it was found that the students’ attitudes towards mathematics were generally positive. However, no statistically significant relation was found between the positive attitude towards mathematics and problem-solving achievements. Besides, this study explores that the students used a limited number of problem-solving strategies. They performed usually the application step of a problem-solving process.

Keywords

attitude, mathematics, problem-solving

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