THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MATHEMATICS MOTIVATION AND MATHEMATICS PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS OF PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
Abstract
This study investigated the relationship between primary school students’ mathematics motivation and problem-solving skills in mathematics. A total of 429 students were selected through convenience sampling, using a relational survey model. Data were collected using the Mathematics Problem-solving Achievement Test and the Mathematics Course Motivation Scale using the relational survey model. The research results showed that fourth-grade primary school students’ mathematics problem-solving scores were at the ‘Needs Improvement’ level although they have high motivation in mathematics. Secondly, their motivation towards mathematics did not differ regarding teacher turnover and the mother's educational status while, but it significantly differs concerning the father's education status. Namely, those whose fathers are graduates of primary school and university performed better than those whose fathers are graduates from middle school. It was also found that their mathematics problem-solving achievement scores did not differ regarding teacher turnover but differed significantly with respect to mothers' educational status (in favour of university graduates compared to middle school and high school graduates; in favour of primary school graduates compared to high school graduates) and fathers' educational status (in favour of university graduates compared to high school graduates). This study found a weak but statistically significant positive relationship between their motivation towards mathematics and problem-solving skills. Lastly, this study revealed that the mathematics motivation of fourth-grade primary school students accounted for 7% of the increase in mathematics problem-solving success scores.
Keywords
Mathematics, motivation, problem solving, primary school.
Ethical Statement
The permission was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University with the letter dated 11.11.2022 and numbered 172202. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. This article was produced from the master's thesis conducted by the first author under the supervision of the second author.
References
- Akdemir, Ö. (2006). İlköğretim öğrencilerinin matematik dersine yönelik tutumları ve başarı güdüsü [Elementary students' attitudes towards mathematics lesson and achievement motivation] (Unpublished master's thesis). İzmir Dokuz Eylül University.
- Al Shabibi, A., & Alkharusi, H. (2018). Mathematical problem-solving and metacognitive skills of 5th grade students as a function of gender and level of academic achievement. Cypriot Journal of Educational Science, 13(2), 385-395.
- Artut, Y. D. D. P. D., & Tarım, Y. D. D. D. K. (2006). Investigation of solution strategies and error types of elementary school students' levels of solving non-routine verbal problems. Çukurova University Journal of Institute of Social Sciences, 15(2), 39-50.
- Baş, T. D., & Şahin, Ç. (2024). Investigation of the relationship between primary school students' motivation, anxiety levels and self-efficacy towards mathematics course. International Journal of Science and Education, 7(1), 1-16.
- Bozkurt, E., & Bircan, M. A. (2015). Analysis of relationship between primary fifth grade srudents' math motivation with academic achievement of math. International Journal of Turkish Education Sciences, 2015(5), 201-220.
- Büyüköztürk, Ş. (2012). Data analysis handbook for social sciences. Pegem A Publishing.
- Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design. (Trans. M. Bursal, p.155-183). Eğiten Kitap.
- Demir, M. K., & Arı, E. (2013). Investigation of pre-service teachers' academic motivation levels in terms of various variables. Theory and Practice in Education, 9(3), 265-279.
- Dursun, Ş., & Dede, Y. (2004). Factors affecting students' success in mathematics in terms of mathematics teachers' views. Journal of Gazi Faculty of Education, 24(2), 217-230.
- Dündar, S. (2015). Investigation of pre-service teachers' exercises related to the subject of series and their ability to solve non-routine problems. Kastamonu Journal of Education, 23(3), 1293-1310.
