Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Math Dislike
Math Dislike
September 2018
Chapter I – THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE
Rationale
Obviously, yet quite profound, education is important and enhancing its quality is critical
and urgent to an individual’s and the society’s success. This issue is aptly addressed by the
additional two years is added to the 10-year basic education program and with it comes not
only the restructuring of teaching approaches but the addition of learning areas for the added
two years.
These new learning areas now brings with them new challenges for the learners. Each
subject presents unique problems, but for most students nothing compares to the challenges
brought about by Mathematics; majority of the students across the world dislike mathematics
every facets of life. And yet, the National Research Council (1989) reported that Mathematics
has often been termed as the “gatekeeper” of success or failure for high school graduation and
This term paper was conceived to investigate through a Case Study the reasons and
factors why students, even the ones who are academically performing better than most in
Mathematics, regard the subject with such aversion. This paper will also provide some
important information and contribute suggestions to curtail the repugnance of the students on
the concerned learning area. The results of this short study then will be beneficial to the
students, Mathematics teachers, the parents, the school community and other stake holders of
education.
Theoretical Background
For learning to be conveyed permanently, students must understand what they are
learning. And one of the ways for learners to understand Mathematics is to engage in actual
physical experiences in learning the simple and complex concepts involved and make use of
them in and out of school institutions. However, there are students who are indifferent to these
experiences. Education experts and psychologists though provide theories and models to
One such theory is the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) where this case study is anchored
upon. As theorized by Bandura (1986), SCT states that that learning occurs in a social context
with a dynamic and reciprocal interaction of the person, environment, and behavior (as cited in
between cognitive (self-aware and actual experience), behavioral and contextual (environment-
dependent) factors. It is with these factors that the respondent’s (of this case study) disliking of
Mathematics will be investigated upon and, hopefully, understood. In addition, Bandura’s Social
Learning Theory (SLT) stresses the importance of observation, learning, imitation, and modeling.
His theory integrates a continuous interaction between behavior, cognition and environment.
In support to both the SLT and the SCT and in which this study is also anchored on is the
Theory of Cognitive Development (TCD) by Jean Piaget. TCD states that a person acquires,
This totally holds up the cognitive, behavioral, and contextual factors of the learning process.
This case study aims to describe a Grade 11 Senior High School student’s repugnance
towards Mathematic in Lawaan National High School for the first semester of the school year
2018-2019.
1) What are the factors that influence the student-respondent’s repugnance towards
Mathematics?
a. Cognitive factors?
b. Behavioral factors?
c. Contextual factors?
2) How do these factors contribute to the student’s repugnance towards Mathematics?
3) How is the repugnance towards Mathematics manifested by the student-
Students. This study can greatly help students who dislike Mathematics and related subjects
such that they will be informed and appropriately guided on the proper course of
action to address their aversion and perform well on the concerned subject/s.
Mathematics Teachers as well as Other Teachers. Through the suggested solutions, this
Mathematics Department and School Administration. Like the help that the result of this
study can provide for the teachers, the same thing is true for the Department Areas
Mathematics.
Parents and Other Stakeholders. This study will be of great help for parents and other
stakeholders, for the factors determined and the suggested solutions, as a better
This study intends to describe in detail the reasons of a Grade 11 student’s repugnance
in Mathematics, despite her academically high performance in the concerned subject, for the
first semester of the school year 2018-2019. The case study is to be conducted in Lawaan
National High School, Lawaan I, Talisay City, Cebu. The student-respondent was purposively
chosen out of 105 grade 11 students of the said school. The study will be conducted through
inclination can be affected by multiple factors or causes. However, one of the most disliked of
these subjects is Mathematics. Repugnance to Mathematics and the fear of numbers (not the
disorder) has been a subject of numerous research studies and research literatures. Hence, the
researcher has decided to further seek problems in relation with the concepts of these
literatures.
Students’ dislike for some subject could be due to a continuing state of despondency
because of their fear of being victims of the disapproval of their teachers and classmates – this
is quite evident in Mathematics. Mc Leod (2011) argued that a child will behave in a way in
which he/she believes will earn approval because he/she desires so (approval). Moreover, the
dislike of Mathematics may as well “stream out” of the students’ negative preconception of
themselves with regards to Mathematics which could be inert in nature or due to bad
experiences on the subject early on. As Anderson (2007) pointed out that the students’
disinclination to Mathematics is because they are keeping the belief that they are never good at
the subject. The students’ behavior then is a critical factor in their attitude towards
Mathematics.
the external or environmental factors affecting the delivery of the lessons. According to Mann
and Robinson (2009), 60% of learners found at least half of their lectures boring and about 30%
of them claiming to find most of their lectures boring and this is mostly due to the teaching
approach and the setting were the lectures are conducted. Mann and Robinson, added, that
such conditions rarely promotes interaction and active learning that more hands-on and
practical applications can facilitate. Henningsen and Stein (1997) further added that classrooms
must become environments in which students are able to engage actively in rich, worthwhile
Mathematics activity, in order to develop student’s capacity to “do Mathematics.” These studies
Closely connected to the contextual factors are the cognitive factors where learners
must be fully aware of the objects in their surrounding environment and engage themselves in
manipulating or experimenting with these objects. As Larbi and Mavis (2016) emphasized in
their study, students who made use of objects or manipulatives (algebra tiles) performed
significantly better than those that did not. Larbi and Mavis added that the use of the algebra
tiles improved students’ thinking process as they solve problems in algebra. Another cognitive
issue of students on the concerned learning area is mathematics anxiety which is described by
Richardson and Woolfolk (1980) as a condition in which students experience negative reactions
to mathematical concepts and evaluation procedure (as cited in Cates and Rhymer, 2003). Cates
and Rhymer argued that the higher mathematics anxiety the more significantly lower is the
fluency level across all mathematical operations. They added though that mathematics anxiety
is more related to higher levels of learning than to the initial acquisition stage of learning. By
virtue of these studies, it is evident that cognitive aspects are vital factors in the students’ dislike
of Mathematics.
To sum up, these literatures that linked a connection between the existing problems
have assisted the researcher to furthermore continue the present study. And in line with these
studies, the researcher believed that the cited factors may have contributed to the student’s
This case study is qualitative in nature and will make use of a thematic approach in
treating each data that will be gathered. The method requires the researcher to identify and
describe the different reasons of the student-respondent’s dislike of Mathematics despite her
above average performance in the subject. The researcher will use an observation sheet and
interview guide as research instruments to acquire and evaluate data to consequently identify
Research Respondent
This case study used the purposive sampling technique; the respondent is selected using
Research Instrument
repugnance towards Mathematics, the following instruments were used; (a) an observation
sheet, in which the researcher put into writing the data during the non-participative
observation on the respondent and (b) an unstructured interview guide, which serves as the
researcher’s guide questionnaire during the interview with the respondent. The interview will
not be bounded by the questions in the interview guide; it can be freely adjusted or even not
Research Procedure
The researcher of this case study will make use of: (1) observation, and (2) interview as
unit/chapter coverage for the final term of grade 11 Mathematics without the act of personal
interaction. This time frame of the observation is designed to monitor all possible behavior of
the respondent at different parts of the delivery of the unit/chapter. (The student-respondent at
this time is not yet aware that she is the subject of a case study so she would continue to act
normally in class discussions and exercises; the student-respondent will only be informed of her
participation during the Interview phase. The researcher is her Mathematics instructor. The
researcher actually purposively chose several candidates as the subject of the case study during
this phase to address the possibility of refusal of the first subject chosen to participate in the
study.)
Interview. The subject will then be interviewed after the Observation phase through the
use of an unstructured interview guide questionnaire. During the interview, the researcher will
ask questions from the guide questionnaire and follow up questions based on the answers of
the respondent. The data that will be gathered during the one-on-one interview with the
respondent will serve as the basis in making the conclusions and recommendations.
After the data gathering process, thematic content analysis was be used as a tool in
treatment of the data. Thematic analysis involved categorizing strategy which will enables the
researcher to analyze and interpret the data gathered in accordance to the specific objectives of
REFERENCES
Anderson, R. (2007). Being a Mathematics Learner: Four Faces of Identity. The Mathematics
Educator. Retrieved: https://bit.ly/2orbC1E, September 2018.
Cates, G., Rhymer, K. (2003). Examining the Relationship Between Mathematics Anxiety and
Mathematics Performance: An Instructional Hierarchy Perspective. Journal of
Behavioral Education . Retrieved: https://bit.ly/2PUHBUz, September 2018.
Henningsen, M., Stein, M. (1997). Mathematical Tasks and Student Cognition: Classroom-Based
Factors That Support and Inhibit High-Level Mathematical Thinking and Reasoning.
Journal for Research in Mathematics, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Retrieved: https://bit.ly/2LOcgj4, September 2018.
LaMorte, W. (2018). Behavioral Change Model: The Social Cognitive Theory. Boston University
School of Public Health. Retrieved: https://bit.ly/2LdY2vA, September 2018.
Larbi, E., Mavis, O. (2016). The Use of Manipulatives in Mathematics Education. Journal of
Education and Practice. Retrieved: https://bit.ly/2ov1WmU, September 2018.
Mann, S., Robinson, A. (2009). Why do 60% of students find their lectures boring? The Guardian.
Retrieved: https://bit.ly/2LMk2Kj, September 2018.
Padre, J. (2010). The Enhanced K + 12 Basic Education Program Rationale. Philippine Education
Research Journal. Retrieved: https://bit.ly/2FlfjjG, August 2018.
Peria, E. (2015). Why Do Many Students Find Math a Difficult one?. Pressreader. Retrieved:
https://bit.ly/2Pqq7hB, August 2018.
Scarpello, G. (2007). Helping Students Get Past Math Anxiety. Association for Career and
Technical Education. Retrieved: https://bit.ly/2oq3Bdc, August 2018.
APPENDICES
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Day 5 :
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Observation:
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4. What are your thought and reactions upon knowing your grades in Mathematics during the
time that you started hating the subject? (Unsa may naa sa imong huna-huna ug mga
reaksiyon pagkahibalo nimo sa imong grado sa Mathematics sa kadtong panahon nga
nagsugod ka nga dili na ganahan sa subject?)
5. What did you do to increase your grade in Mathematics as can be seen in senior high school?
(Unsa may imong gibuhat adto para modako imong grado sa Mathematics base sa
makita karon nga senior high school naka?)