Research On The Success Factors Of High School Mathematics Honors Student

The present thesis attempts to explore various factors, intellectual or non-intellectual, internal or external, which contribute to students' success in mathematics. Data are collected mainly through three kinds of investigations:First, interviewing six high school top students in mathematics;Second, observing students' mathematical behavior in their solution of six complex mathematical problems;Last, sampling top students in mathematics and average students from both top and average classes to survey their views about mathematics and mathematical behavior in an attempt to determine the contrasting differences.The investigations reveal the following factors contributing to students' success in mathematics: the interest in mathematics, the inclination for doing large quantities of mathematical exercises, the perception of more fun and sense of accomplishment in the problem solution, the readiness to take up difficult mathematical problems, the determination to face the difficulty, the preference of independent thinking, the self-confidence in their own capability and their thinking ability in mathematics, the emphasis on reasoning and the reflection after finding solutions, the realization of the crux being the exploration and deduction of mathematical principles, and the mastery of methods of thinking in the solution of mathematical problems.