|
Students’
attitudes, interests and liking for a subject have a strong bearing
on their achievement. The Mathematics survey sought information from
students about their curriculum preferences and perceptions of their
own achievement. The survey was administered to the students in an independent
session (four students working individually on tasks, supported by a
teacher).
The survey included eleven items which asked students to record a rating
response by circling their choice, two items which asked them to select
three preferences from a list, one item which asked them to nominate
up to six activities, and three items which invited them to write comments.
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Preferred
maths activities
Students were presented with a list of nine mathematics activities and
asked to nominate up to three that they liked doing at school. The responses
are shown below, in percentage order for Mäori students in general
education.
There are some remarkable differences between the two groups. Compared
to Mäori students in general education, students in Mäori immersion
settings were much more enthusiastic about doing maths tests, taking parts
in maths competitions, and working in their maths book, but dramatically
less enthusiastic about working on maths problems and puzzles.
|
MATHS
ACTIVITIES STUDENTS LIKE DOING AT SCHOOL
|
%
responses |
| GEd |
MI |
| Maths
problems and puzzles |
45
|
11 |
| Work
in my maths book |
31
|
50 |
| Using
equipment |
30
|
28 |
| Doing
maths work sheets |
25
|
31 |
| Using
a calculator |
20
|
33 |
| Maths
competitions |
18
|
44 |
| Using
maths textbooks |
17
|
28 |
| Maths
tests |
14
|
42 |
| Something
else |
15 |
14 |
|
Activities
important to learning maths
An open-ended question asked students to nominate what they considered
to be some very important things a person needs to learn or do to be good
at maths. They were asked to try to think of three things. Their responses
were coded into nine categories and the results shown in the adjacent
table are percentage totals from the sets of three ideas. Because some
students nominated
two or three things that were coded into the same category (e.g. practising
addition, subtraction and multiplication) the
percentage could exceed 100.
Basic facts
and
tables were seen by both groups of students to be most important, but
this in part will have arisen because some students referred separately
to two or more of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts.
|
IMPORTANT
FOR LEARNING AND BEING GOOD AT MATHS
(activities
nominated by students as being very important for learning maths
or for being very good at maths)
|
%
responses |
| GEd |
MI |
| Basic
facts and tables |
78
|
106 |
Classroom
behaviours
(seeking help, discussing with others, paying attention)
|
37
|
24 |
Work
skills
(practise, study, revision, homework) |
30
|
18 |
Personal
attributes
(good attitudes, concentration, focus, enjoyment) |
30 |
33 |
Maths
knowledge
(algebra, money, percentages, use of calculators, etc.)
|
24
|
27 |
Intelligence
(thinking, being brainy, being smart, being able to understand)
|
24
|
30 |
| Skills
and abilities in related subjects (reading, writing)
|
6
|
21 |
| Problem
solving skills |
4 |
0 |
| Other
factors
|
5 |
3 |
|
Maths
in own time
A second open-ended question asked students “What are some interesting
maths things you do in your own time?” Their responses were
coded into seven categories, and the results shown in the table right
are percentage totals, out of those students who responded. Students in
Mäori immersion settings placed much more emphasis on basic facts
and tables, while Mäori students in general education made more diverse
choices.
|
| MATHS
ACTIVITIES STUDENTS DO IN THEIR OWN TIME |
%
responses |
| GEd |
MI |
| Basic
facts and tables |
23 |
66 |
| Puzzles,
quizzes and games |
21 |
7 |
| Maths
homework |
9 |
2 |
| Math
skills (excluding basic facts) |
21
|
5 |
| Life
skills maths (counting money, banking, calculating
animal feed, fencing for paddocks, etc) |
11
|
16 |
| None
|
20
|
18 |
| Other
|
10
|
5 |
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Strategies
The third open-ended question asked “If you have something really
hard to do in maths, what do you do?” Students’ responses
were coded into seven categories, and the results shown in the adjacent
table are percentage totals, out of those students who responded. Students
in Mäori immersion settings were somewhat more likely to stop trying
or to guess.
|
| STRATEGIES
STUDENTS USE WHEN THEY HAVE SOMETHING IN MATHS THAT IS VERY HARD
TO DO |
%
responses |
| GEd |
MI |
| Ask
a teacher |
43 |
50 |
| Ask
family/friends for help |
27
|
35 |
| Ask
for help – no specific people indicated |
24
|
7 |
| Try
harder; persevere |
17
|
20 |
| Quit/nothing
|
5 |
11 |
| Guess
|
0
|
13 |
| Other
|
7
|
2 |
|
Rating
items
Responses to the eleven rating items are presented in the table below.
Compared to Mäori students in general education, the students in
Mäori immersion settings were much keener to do increased amounts
of maths at school, and expressed markedly greater enjoyment of doing
maths at school. They also were more positive about their own capabilities
in maths, and about how good their teacher and their parents thought they
were at maths. They were much more positive about doing maths on their
own, and somewhat more positive about helping other with their maths.
|
| MATHEMATICS
SURVEY
Percentages
— Mäori
students in general education Mäori
Immersion students |
w
much do you like doing music at school?
|
more |
about
the same |
less |
|
|
1
|
Would
you like to do more, the same or less maths at school?
|
12
51 |
61
45 |
27
4 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
don't
know |
2 |
How much do you like doing maths at school?
|
23
44
|
41
37 |
24
11 |
12
8 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 |
How good do you think you are at maths?
|
12
28 |
61
50 |
22
18 |
5
4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
How
good does your teacher think you are at maths?
|
15
28 |
44
46 |
8
2 |
3
2 |
30
22 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
5 |
How
good does your Mum or Dad think you are at maths?
|
30
52 |
30
26 |
7 5 |
2
2 |
31
15 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
6 |
How
much do you like doing maths on your own?
|
19
55 |
42
24 |
22
12 |
17
9 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 |
How
much do you like doing maths with others?
|
53
60 |
28
29 |
13
5 |
6
6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 |
How much do you like helping others with their maths?
|
28
42 |
39 35
|
20
19 |
13
4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9 |
How
do you feel about doing things in maths you haven’t tried
before?
|
30
35 |
37
30 |
23
23 |
10
12 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 |
How much do you like doing maths in your own time
(not at school)?
|
13
19 |
25
28 |
25
23 |
37
30 |
|
|
yes |
maybe/
not sure |
no |
|
|
11 |
Do you want to keep learning maths when you grow up?
|
43
49 |
49
40 |
8
11 |
|
|
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