European Journal of Scientific Research ISSN 1450-216X Vol.36 No.3 (2009), pp.336-341 EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2009 http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr.

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Students Attitude Towards Mathematics and Academic Achievement in Some Selected Secondary Schools in Southwestern Nigeria
YARA, Philias Olatunde Kampala International University,Western campus, Bushenyi-Ishaka Uganda E-mail: philiasyara@gmail.com Tel: +256-783104687 Abstract Attitude of students can be influenced by the attitude of the teacher and his method of teaching. Studies carried out have shown that the teachers method of mathematics teaching and his personality greatly accounted for the students positive attitude towards mathematics and that, without interest and personal effort in learning mathematics by the students, they can hardly perform well in the subject. The study adopted the descriptive survey design using simple frequency and percentages in analysing the data. 1542 senior secondary two students randomly selected from 2 schools in each of the senatorial districts from the six states in the Southwestern part of Nigeria were used. One instrument (SAT) was used while three research questions were answered in the study. The results showed that the students attitudes towards mathematics were positive and that many of them believed that mathematics is a worthwhile and necessary subject which can help them in their future career. It is recommended that the teacher should develop positive relationship with students and stress classroom activities that involves active teaching- learning process and students participation in the class. Stakeholders should organize periodic seminars and workshops for students, parents and teachers designed to promote positive attitudes towards mathematics. Keywords: Student Attitude, Mathematics Achievement, Southwestern Nigeria, Senior Secondary.

Introduction Research centering on students' attitudes toward mathematics study has received increasing attention. Studies have shown that factors such as motivation and attitude have impacted student achievement (Cote & Levine, 2000; Singh, Granville & Dika, 2002). Moreover, instructional strategies may also support student needs in order to increase student achievement. For example, Bottge (2001) found that when math problems were interesting and engaging, students with learning disabilities were able to solve problems that emphasized higher level thinking skills. Tymms (2001) investigated 21,000 students' attitudes toward math and suggested that the most important factors were the teacher and students' academic level; while age, gender, and language were weakly associated with attitudes. Webster and Fisher's (2000) study revealed that rural and urban students' attitudes toward math and career aspirations positively affected their performance. Altermatt and colleagues (2002) found that students' attitude changes could be

predicted and influenced by types of classmates. Webb, Lubinski, & Benbow (2002) found educational experiences, abilities, and interests predicted undergraduate degree concentrations in math and science. Koller, Baumert, and Schnabel (2001) studied gender differences in mathematics achievement, which favored males in achievement, interest, and placement in advanced math courses. Few studies systematically analyzed attitudes, various mathematics learning factors, and achievement of secondary school students using an international database. Utilizing trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), provides insight into cross-national similarities and differences, and augments the existing literature.

Introduction
Attitude towards science denotes interest or feeling towards studying science. It is the students disposition towards like or dislike science while attitude in science means scientific approach assumed by an individual for solving problems, assessing ideas and making decisions. Review of relevant literature depicts varying opinions and findings on the students attitude towards science and their performances. According to Keeves (1992) and Postlethwaite and Wiley (1991), attitudes towards science are, in general, highly favoured, indicating strong support for science and the learning of science. There is also consistency across countries and age levels within a country, in the average level of attitude towards science by students. The researchers however concluded that there is marked decline in attitude towards science between the ten-years old and fourteen-years old levels. Greenfield (1995), Parker, Revinue and Fraser (1996), Mullis, Martin, Beaton, Gonsale, Kelly and Smith (1998) in their findings revealed that in countries where there was an emergent thirst for Students Attitude Towards Mathematics and Academic Achievement in Some Selected Secondary Schools in Southwestern Nigeria 337 industrial and technological development, there were very favourable attitudes towards science. However, in countries where a high level of technological and industrial development had been achieved, the findings showed that attitude towards science were more neutral. Generally, boys held more fovourable attitude towards science, the findings concluded. Keeves (1992) asserted that attitude towards science are known to decrease as students progress through their schooling years. He further submitted that attributes such as enthusiasm, respect for students and personality traits have been shown to influence students attitude towards science as well as in other subjects. The implication of Keeves findings is that attention should be given to science teaching early so as to enable students have favourable disposition towards science later in life. OBrien and Porter (1994) in their study on the impact of a scheme of intervention projects on girls attitudes to Physics in Ireland came up with the following findings among others that

(1) students in project schools were found to have similar attitudes to Physics than those in control schools. (2) students in the co-educational schools tend to have more negative attitudes than those in the single-set schools, (3) there is relationship between the size of school and the attitudes of students to Physics. In general, the larger the school, the more negative the attitudes of students. (4) at the other extreme, students in small schools also have more negative attitudes. Studies in Nigeria, however, including that of Alao (1988) examined six attitudinal dimensions and their effects on students achievement. The dimensions were: (i) social implications of science, (ii) attitude towards scientific inquiry, (iii) normality of scientists, (iv) enjoyment of science and science lessons, (v) leisure interest in science and career interest in science. The result of the study revealed that students have positive attitudes towards sciences, Mathematics inclusive. Odunusi (1994) in assessing the attitude of some science students towards modern orientation in science found that students attitude to science is negative while gender and class level of the students did not significantly influence students attitude towards science. Obioha (1987) when describing Nigeria situation, opined that schools in Nigeria have come a long way from no science in schools to almost compulsory science programmes at all levels and yet the younger generation do not particularly want to study science. The reason for this view is not far-fetched. The social values in the country nowadays have diverted students attention and interest from learning science to other goodies of life. Onafowokan (1998) differs in her report of two separate studies carried out by Schunert (1951) and Einburg (1995) when she linked higher achievement in science to positive attitude on the part of the students. In his own contribution, Hurd (1984) while reporting on the state of pre-college education in Mathematics and Science in the United States of America, described the situation as worrisome in the sense that students do not particularly like science and the dislike is acquired early in life. Bloom (1976) found that twenty-five percent (25%) of the variance in achievement could be attributed to pupils attitude towards science. Kempa and Dude (1974) reported that pupils interest in science is associated with their achievement in science. Corroborating these reports, Olatoye (2001) found that students attitude towards science have significant direct effect on student achievement in the subject. Adesokan (2002) and Onwu (1981) asserted that in spite of the recognition given to Chemistry among the science subjects, it is evident

that students still show negative attitude towards the subject thereby leading to poor performance and low enrolments. Bolaji (2005) in a study of the influence of students attitude towards mathematics found that the teachers method of mathematics teaching and his personality greatly accounted for the students positive attitude towards mathematics. Despite these diverse views and reports on attitude towards science and student achievement, attempts have been made to improve students attitudes and achievements. Researchers including 338 YARA, Philias Olatunde Herzog (1994, 1996, 1997) developed and evaluated some of such strategies directed at improving students attitudes to science subjects which include a strong relation between science contents and students everyday experiences (Labudde, 1993, 1996 and Gerbain, 1998); learning opportunities to integrate difference pre-existing knowledge, a variation in teaching methods, enhancing cooperation and communication in the classroom and training of teachers. Not only this, students need to develop the attitudes and habits of mind that are considered for meaningful work in science and technology. These include commitment to accuracy, precision and integrity on observation, experimentation and respect for evidence, concern for the observance of safety procedures, respect for living things and environment and many others (The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1-8, 1988). Burstein (1992) in a comparative study of factors influencing mathematics achievement found out that there is a direct link between students attitudes towards mathematics and student outcomes. He also found that 25% in England and 26% in Norway accounted for the variation in students attitude towards mathematics that were due to student gender, maternal expectation, expectations of the students friends, and success attribution (belief about success in mathematics). Student beliefs and attitudes have the potential to either facilitate or inhibit learning. Gibbons, Kimmel and OShea (1997) opined that students attitudes about the value of learning science may be considered as both an input and outcome variable because their attitudes towards the subject can be related to educational achievement in ways that reinforce higher or lower performance. This means that those students who do well in a subject generally have more positive attitudes towards that subject and those who have more positive attitudes towards a subject tend to perform better in that subject. A critical look into the above cited studies indicated that there are conflicting reports concerning the relationship between students attitudes and academic achievement. It is against this

background that the present study will, in part establish the relationship, if any, between students attitude and academic achievement in mathematics.

Recommendations
It is recommended that the teacher should develop positive relationship with students and stress classroom activities, which will involve active teaching- learning process and students participation in the class. Secondary schools, Faculties of Education, State Ministries of Education, Nigerian Union of Teachers and other stakeholders in the education industry should organize periodic seminars and workshops for students, parents, teachers and school administrators designed to promote positive attitudes towards mathematics.

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