ERIC Number: EJ1442925
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-2547-9652
Empirical Study on Attitude towards Making Decision to Select Mathematics for First-Degree Program
T. S. N. D. Kumarage; H. P. T. N. Silva
Anatolian Journal of Education, v9 n2 p171-180 2024
Recently debatable arguments have existed regarding the perceived lack of numerical skills among the graduates from the Humanities and Social Sciences. In response to this concern, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculties of Art in national universities in Sri Lanka have taken measures to more opportunities to undergraduates to bolster their numerical proficiency. This is achieved through the incorporation of mathematics course units for their degree programs along with the main subject streams. The study focuses on factors that affect the undergraduates' attitudes towards making the decision to select the subject mathematics for their first-degree program. A sample survey was carried out using structured questionnaire and stratified random sampling technique was utilized to select a sample size of 352 from the undergraduates belongs to Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in University of Sri Jayewardenepura. The binary logistic regression model is utilized, and the study revealed that self efficacy, mathematical anxiety, and interest in mathematics are significantly affected students' attitudes on counting mathematics course units for their degree program. The student who has self-efficacy is 1.03 times more likely to select mathematics course unit at the first academic year than other students. A unit increase of mathematics anxiety with all other factors remaining constant, the odds of a student selecting the mathematics course decreased by 11.2%. When one-unit increases in the interest in mathematics of students the odds of selecting mathematics course unit is 1.06 times more likely to than other peers. These insights suggest that educational institutes, particularly those in the humanities and social sciences, should prioritize enhancing students 'numerical skills. This can be achieved by providing valuable consideration aimed at refining their curriculum and support mechanism, increasing awareness programmes about the importance of studying mathematics course units within their degree programmes and conducting programmes to reduce mathematics anxiety while fostering an increased interest in mathematics.
Descriptors: Decision Making, Foreign Countries, Numeracy, Mathematics Skills, Humanities, Social Sciences, College Faculty, State Universities, Undergraduate Students, Mathematics Instruction, Student Attitudes, Self Efficacy, Mathematics Anxiety, Course Selection (Students), Student Interests, Majors (Students)
Gate Association for Teaching and Education. e-mail: aje.editorial@gmail.com; Web site: http://e-aje.net/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Sri Lanka
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A