Attitude Towards Mathematics Among Secondary School Physics Students in Ikwerre Local Government Area, Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated on “attitude towards mathematics among secondary school physics students in Ikwerre Local Government Area, Rivers State”. Descriptive survey design was adopted. The population of this study covered all S.S.2 physics students offering physics. Simple Random Sampling Technique was employed to get a sample size of 200 students. The instrument used for the research was the “Physics Students’ Attitude towards Mathematics and their Mathematics Teachers Questionnaire (PSAMMTQ)” designed by the researcher. A reliability coefficient of 0.80 was adopted. Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that attitude of male and female secondary school physics students towards mathematics do not differ significantly. The results also showed that attitude of male and female secondary school physics students towards their mathematics teachers do not differ significantly. It was recommended among others that government should encourage the teaching of mathematics in secondary schools by given incentives to mathematics teachers, teachers of mathematics should have positive attitude towards mathematics since this will in turn develop positive attitude in physics students, educational stakeholders should occasionally carry out mathematics competition among senior secondary students where winners go with enviable prizes, this will cultivate positive attitude for mathematics study.

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