Perception of secondary school students towards learning mathematics and its effect on academic performance: In case of Kaffa Zone Gimbo secondary school

Abstract

The perception of students in learning mathematics at secondary schools has persistently been negative. The students with a higher perception of learning were associated with better academic performance. Students' academic performance in mathematics reflects their ability to handle the academic series taken during secondary school. This study sought to investigate students' perceptions of learning mathematics and its effects on academic performance at Kaffa Zone Gimbo Secondary School. The target groups for this study were 555 students from grades 9-12. This group was sampled using stratified sampling techniques, with a sample size of 250 students. The data was collected using a questionnaire. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analysis by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 20). The finding of this study shows that students' perception of learning mathematics was a mean Likert scale value of 2.4264, which is low and indicates a negative perception. Furthermore, from multiple linear regression analysis, all the components of perceptions were statistically significant, which means the p-value is less than 0.05. From the independent sample t-test, the perception of male and female students is not statistically significant. This indicates that gender difference does not affect the perception of learning in mathematics. Generally, the study concluded that students' academic performance in mathematics is significantly influenced by their perception of learning mathematics. The study recommended that the concerned bodies consider counselling students to foster positive thinking about mathematics learning and high performance in mathematics.