RELATING TEACHER’S MASTERY OF THE SUBJECT MATTER AND STUDENTS’

ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE SUBJECT GENERAL MATHEMATICS

Researchers:

Geraldez, Paula Kathlen

Gerodias, Kaye

Jayson, Anne Gabrielle

Olasiman, Ken Wil

Orcullo, Isaac Joey

Research Adviser:

Norris A. Bregente
CHAPTER I: THE PROBLEM AND A REVIEW OF LITERATURE

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Teaching is said to be a noble profession. It includes relaying of knowledge, skills and

attitudes. Teachers play a very important role in our lives as they will help and guide us
throughout our journey in becoming successful. A teacher especially needs to be an effective
communicator and motivator, as it is irrelevant how much knowledge a teacher has if that
knowledge cannot be shared and conveyed to the students in an interesting and understandable way.
It may also affect the students’ outlook towards learning and their performance.

The students’ attitude towards learning is influenced by the characteristics of the

classroom environment or by students’ commitment and acceptance of tasks [ CITATION Val13 \l
13321 ]. But it can also be affected by the teacher’s mastery of that certain subject.

The mastery of subject is an essential skill that a teacher necessarily needs to be equipped
with in the teaching and learning process as it has a direct impact on teaching, especially towards
the students. Teachers need to know what they are teaching because understanding of subject
matter by a teacher implies that the teacher is able to grasp the main points and teach them to the
students, and to correct any misconceptions of knowledge. Recent research has suggested that
teachers' beliefs about subject matter also influence what they choose to teach and how they
choose to teach it[CITATION Wil \l 13321 ]. Lack of mastery towards the subject may certainly
affect the students’ attitude in their respective classes [CITATION Kam14 \l 13321 ].

Mathematics is the study of order, relation and pattern. From its origins in counting and
measuring, it has evolved in highly sophisticated and elegant ways to become the language used
to describe much of the physical world[ CITATION Off14 \l 13321 ] . Whilst, General Mathematics is
one of the core subjects in the senior highschool curriculum. This subject aims to develop
learners' understanding of concepts and techniques drawn from number and algebra,
trigonometry and world geometry, sequences, finance, networks and decision mathematics and
statistics, in order to solve applied problems[ CITATION Off14 \l 13321 ].

All these revolve around the teacher’s understanding of the subject matter. For the
effectiveness of the system of education, the quality of its teacher and the extent of teacher
education and training should be determined. The teacher, being an educator should require
imperative abilities and skills in order to attain confidence for educational development, and
these are acquired in teacher education [CITATION Kam14 \l 13321 ].

In this study, the researchers will focus on the correlation between teacher’s mastery of
the subject matter and the students’ attitude towards the specific subject, General Mathematics.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

I. Teacher’s Mastery of the Subject Matter

Teaching starts with determining what to topic, to teach, or what activities to do. The
lessons must be known by the teacher first before they will be transferred to the pupils. When
teachers master the topic, there is smooth flow of teaching-learning process. They can ensure that
they are teaching the right ideas, theory and other matters to the students. With this, teachers can
match the instructional materials to be used if the lesson is already mastered by the teacher. The
connection of the instructional materials and subject matter cannot be neglected[CITATION Mir18 \l
13321 ].

Teaching as a noble profession denotes huge expectations on the part of the teacher. A
competent teacher possesses a mastery of the subject matter. It is an important aspect to always
check on for it has a direct impact on the learning of the pupils and outcome of their academic
performance. Mastery of the topic provides opportunities to the teachers to correct the
misconceptions or wrong knowledge that the learners have[CITATION Mir18 \l 13321 ].

II. Students’ Attitude towards the Subject

Attitudes can alter every aspect of a person’s life, including their education. Student
attitudes on learning determine their ability and willingness to learn. If negative attitudes are not
altered, a student is unlikely to continue his education beyond what is required. Changing
students’ negative attitudes towards learning is a process that involved determining the factors
driving the attitude and using this information to bring about change [ CITATION Min16 \l 13321 ].
III. General Mathematics

General Mathematics is a core subject in the senior highschool curriculum. General

Mathematics aims to develop learners’ understanding of concepts and techniques drawn from
number and algebra, trigonometry and world geometry, sequences, finance, networks and
decision mathematics and statistics, in order to solve applied problems. Skills in applying
reasoning and interpretive skills in mathematical and statistical contexts and the capacity to
communicate in a concise and systematic manner using appropriate mathematical and statistical
language will be developed. Learners will develop the capacity to choose and use technology
appropriately and efficiently. Studying General Mathematics provides the learner with a breadth
of mathematical experience that enables the recognition and application of mathematics to real-
world situations. General Mathematics is also designed for those learners who want to extend
their mathematical skills in order to pursue further study at the tertiary level in mathematics and
related fields[ CITATION Off14 \l 13321 ].
X

IV. Taro Yamane Formula

In the academic environment especially the research aspect of it has seen sample size as
one of the most vital character in statistics. The basic for a research based in primary data uses
sample size as the starting point. Most research students find it difficult to get a reliable sample
size for the research works. We found it very importance to use this medium to educate project
students on how to calculate sample size using Taro Yamane method. The Taro Yamane method
for sample size calculation was formulated by the statistician Tara Yamane in 1967 to determine
the sample size from a given population[ CITATION Uni16 \l 13321 ].

V. Pearson Correlation Coefficient

The Pearson correlation coefficient is a very helpful statistical formula that measures the
strength between variables and relationships. In the field of statistics, this formula is often
referred to as the Pearson R test. When conducting a statistical test between two variables, it is a
good idea to conduct a Pearson correlation coefficient value to determine just how strong that
relationship is between those two variables[ CITATION Jes \l 13321 ]. Pearson Correlation
Coefficient is the most widely used correlation statistic to measure the degree of the relationship
between linearly related variables. For example, in the stock market, if we want to measure how
two stocks are related to each other, Pearson Correlation Coefficient is used to measure the
degree of relationship between the two. The point-biserial correlation is conducted with the
Pearson correlation formula except that one of the variables is dichotomous.

RESEARCH FRAMEWORK

This section shows the flow, goals, and process of the research study:
 IDENTIFYING VARIABLES

TEACHER’S STUDENTS’
MASTERY ATTITUDE

IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM

DETERMINE OBJECTIVES FORMULATE RESEARCH

AND PURPOSES QUESTIONS

DATA COLLECTION

RESEARCH RESPONDENTS
INSTRUMENTS

DATA ANALYSIS

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS

DATA TREATMENT

RESULTS AND
DISCUSSION

CONCLUSION

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

 The researchers seek to know the correlation between teacher’s mastery of the subject
matter and students’ attitude towards the subject General Mathematics. Furthermore, they aim to
answer the following questions:

1. What are the respondents’ perceptions on;

a. teacher’s mastery of the subject General Mathematics?

b. attitude towards the subject General Mathematics?

2. Is there a significant correlation between teacher’s mastery and the students’ attitude
towards the subject General Mathematics?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

A teacher’s mastery on a certain subject has a huge impact on the overall progress of the
students’ outlook on the subject whether it’s positive or negative. It all depends on the teacher’s
background, the way the teacher teaches and how the teacher makes use of the resources
available to help make his/her session interesting.

Our study wants to relate and find out if the teacher’s mastery really affects the quality of
the discussion by analyzing the attitude of the students. Furthermore, our study aims to relate if
the teacher’s mastery to the subject matter have positive feedback from the students, based on
their attitude.

This study may also serve as a basis regarding the students’ knowledge of the subject
General Mathematics as well as their interest towards the subject in relation to the teacher’s way
of handling it.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This study will primarily focus on the students’ attitude when the teacher’s mastery of the
subject matter corresponds to the subject the teacher is instructing. The results of this study will
contribute to the society especially to the knowledge and reference of the importance of the
correlation of the students’ attitude when the teacher’s mastery of the subject matter corresponds
to the subject the teacher is instructing. The study will be conducted in City of Bogo Science and
Arts Academy and the correspondents will be the City of Bogo Science and Arts Academy
senior high school students.

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH DESIGN

This study is designed as a correlational research which aims to know if a relationship is

present between these variables: the teacher’s mastery of the subject matter and the students’
attitude towards the subject General Mathematics. The produced results will help us understand
further the relation between these two contradicting variables which are commonly present on
some educational institutions. The researchers will be able to figure out how these two play a
huge role on the daily lives of the students, as well as the teacher. Findings of the study will
enable the researchers to gain more understanding from the two correlating variables.

PARTICIPANTS

In this study, the participants are the senior high school students from City of Bogo
Science and Arts Academy (CBSAA) which includes both grade 11 and 12 students. Taro
Yamane Formula was the medium used to determine the class size. All the students are suitable
but the researchers want to avoid any errors in data gathering. This study wants to find out the
relationship between the teacher’s mastery of the subject matter and the students’ attitude
towards the subject General Mathematics.

N
n= 2
1+ N (e)

where:

n signifies the sample size

N signifies the population under study

e signifies the margin error (it could be 0.10, 0.05 or 0.01)

582
n= = 237
1+ 582( 0.05)2

The 237 students will be given a questionnaire for them to answer and they will be
randomly selected from each class.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS
 In gathering the data, the researchers will be using a questionnaire divided into two
groups: the first group will focus mainly about the students’ attitude towards the teacher’s
mastery of the subject and the second will focus about the students’ attitude towards the subject
General Mathematics. The researchers will also add a scale-like option which ranges from agree,
strongly agree, disagree, and lastly, strongly disagree, to provide plenty of option to help in
scrutinization for the credibility of this study.

DATA GATHERING PROCEDURE

In collecting the needed data for this study, the researchers will disseminate the
questionnaire to the randomly selected 237 students. The questionnaire contains the query
necessary for the researchers to complete this research. Furthermore, the researchers will be
going to analyze the collected data.

TREATMENT OF DATA

In this study, the researchers will use Pearson Correlation Coefficient in treating
the collected data. The following formula is used to calculate the Pearson r correlation:

rxy = Pearson r correlation coefficient between x and y

n = number of observations
xi = value of x (for ith observation)
yi = value of y (for ith observation)

CHAPTER III: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

 This section presents the results, analyses and interpretation of the correlation between
the two variables; teacher’s mastery of the subject matter and students’ attitude toward the
subject.

4.5
Students' Attitude Toward the Subject Matter

4.0

3.5

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
Teacher's Mastery of the Subject matter

The chart shows the scatter plot of the data, indicating the reasonableness of assuming a
linear association between the variables. In order to determine how strong the relationship is
between two variables, we used the Pearson Correlation Coefficient which has a formula of:

rxy = Pearson r correlation coefficient between x and y

n = number of observations
xi = value of x (for ith observation)
yi = value of y (for ith observation)
 The coefficient value or r can range between -1.00 and 1.00. If the coefficient value is in
the negative range, then that means the relationship between the variables is negatively
correlated, or as one value increases, the other decreases. If the value is in the positive range,
then that means the relationship between the variables is positively correlated, or both values
increase or decrease together.

Since the value of r, according to the formula, is .52, the two variables which are the
teacher’s mastery of the subject matter and the students’ attitude toward the subject General
Mathematics have a positive relationship.
CHAPTER IV: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

CONCLUSION

To conclude, the teacher’s mastery of the subject matter really affects the students with
regards to their attitude towards the subject. In particular, the more the teacher masters the
subject, the more interested the students are. A Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient
was computed to assess the relationship between the teacher’s mastery of the subject matter and
the students’ attitude toward the subject General Mathematics. There was a positive correlation
between the two variables, r = .52, n = 237, the p value is < .00001, the result is significant at p <
.05. Overall, there was a strong, positive correlation between the teacher’s mastery of the subject
matter and the students’ attitude toward the subject.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The researchers would like to recommend that this study is still open for any
enhancements such as changing the subject to be investigated or changing either of the variables.
The researchers would also recommend for an investigation of a specific strand such as STEM,
which will focus on any of the major subjects which are General Biology, General Chemistry,
Basic Calculus and General Physics and the teachers who engage on sciences and mathematics.
Also, the participants could be lessen as in this study, there are way too many participants used.

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