Relationship Between Students' Attitudes Towards Mathematics,Perceptions Of Teaching Methods,and Academic Achievement

Mathematics plays a crucial role in our daily lives and is the most important core subject in the school curriculum.Meanwhile,the performance statistics of students in Samoa secondary school level,mathematics subject remains one of the most subjects that students fail in most categories and contexts.The Pacific data on education,(2015)revealed that about 70% of Samoan secondary school leavers failed mathematics during the national examinations.According to the Ministry Education Sports and Culture statistical data(2015)reported on fourth year(year 12)Samoa School Certificate national examination analyses for the subject of mathematics,only 1% achieved an ‘excellent' level,hence majority of students are at the ‘beginner' level.For year 13 Samoa Secondary Leaving Certificate national examination analysis for the subject of mathematics,no one achieved an ‘excellent' level,thus,all of the students were at the ‘beginner' level.The low performances in mathematics among Samoan college students have often been a hot topic among stakeholders.To succeed in learning mathematics,students' willingness,individual beliefs,perceptions,and attitudes have been illustrated to play relevant roles in academic performances especially among college students.Students' perceptions and attitudes toward mathematics and its teaching methods have been suggested by diverse researchers to contribute to development of creativity and critical thinking in solving mathematics tasks which subsequently influences students' academic performances.On such basis,the current thesis investigated the relationship among students' attitude,perception of teaching methods,and academic achievement among fourth year students at Lefiifi College.A quantitative approach with a survey research design was used to study the said relationships.A total of 120 fourth year students from the Leifiifi College were recruited for the study.The participants were made of both boys(N = 52,aged 15 – 19)and girls(N = 68,aged 15 – 19).The study showed that,firstly,students demonstrated positive attitudes towards mathematics.Secondly,it was also illustrated students had positive perceptions towards mathematics teaching methods.Thirdly,students' attitudes,perceptions and their academic achievement were found to be significantly correlated.In addition,there were significantly positive correlations between students' attitudes towards mathematics and their academic achievement,and between perceptions towards mathematics teaching methods and their academic achievement.Finally,the study established attitudes towards mathematical inquiry and teacher-centered teaching methods were significant predictors of their academic achievement.