ARCHIVES
VOL. 9, ISSUE 2 (2024)
Mathematics ability, performance and self-efficacy of secondary schools physics students
Authors
Adebisi Thomas Ajibade
Abstract
Mathematics is a language of science,
explicitly in Physics at all levels of education. Students and teachers are
rarely aware of this fact, to this end, this study sought to classify
mathematics ability of physics students into levels to ascertain the influence
on the performance. The study will find it inconclusive without investigating
the influence of mathematics ability on self-efficacy of physics students. The
study adopted descriptive survey research design on population of 1102 senior
secondary schools (SSIII) students distributed in Ife Localities of Osun
State, Nigeria. A sample of 260 physics students was randomly selected and used
for the study from purposively selected ten schools in three local government
areas from four in the locality. Three research instruments were developed and
validated to elicit information on the variables of the study. They were
administered to thirty students outside the study area for reliability
measures. Mathematics ability and performance multiple choice items were fond
reliable at 0.86 and 0.72 respectively by Kuder-Richardson Formula 21, while a
four-point Likert-type scale of self-efficacy instrument yielded a reliability
coefficient of 0.88 using Cronbach alpha analysis. One research question and
two hypotheses guided the study. Data was analyzed using percentages, Anova and
Post-hoc analysis. Findings showed that large percentage of physics students
are within the average mathematics ability level; there was significant
influence of mathematics ability levels on the performance and self-efficacy
and students with high mathematics ability perform better and also possess high
self-efficacy. It was concluded that high Mathematics ability is consequent to
learning of Physics.
Pages:7-13
How to cite this article:
Adebisi Thomas Ajibade "Mathematics ability, performance and self-efficacy of secondary schools physics students". International Journal of Advanced Educational Research, Vol 9, Issue 2, 2024, Pages 7-13
Download Author Certificate
Please enter the email address corresponding to this article submission to download your certificate.