THE IMPACT OF MOTIVATION ON STUDENTS ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE AND LEARNING OUTCOME IN MATHEMATICS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
IN LAGOS STATE. A CASE STUDY OF AJEROMI
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the study
Mathematics
has the ability to confuse, frighten, and frustrate learners of all ages. If a
child has a negative experience in mathematics, that experience has the ability
to affect his/her attitude toward mathematics as an adult.
According
to Okereke [2011] stated that mathematics is the science of things that have a
pattern of regularity and logical order and finding and exploring the
regularity. Mathematics is the foundation of science and technology and the
functional role of mathematics to science and technology is multifarious, that
no area of science, technology and business enterprise escapes its application.
The importance of mathematics in the world cannot be over-emphasized. There is
a general consensus among educators, that mathematics is an important and
useful subject for development in every country. The use of mathematics has
been with man even before the introduction of formal education; Sambo [2012].
Besides its importance it is
observed that mathematics is one of the most poorly taught, widely hated and
abysmally understood subject in elementary schools. Students particularly girls
run away from the subject. He further attributed students’ poor performance to
factors such as the society view that mathematics is difficult, shortage of
qualified teachers, lack of mathematics laboratory and lack of attractiveness
and novelty in teaching method. The obvious question is whether students’ failure
to learn mathematics can be ascribed to problems of curriculum, problem of
teaching, or the student, or perhaps the combination of these; Carnine [2013].
There are many possible reasons as to why students fail in
mathematics. But most of the reasons
are related to curriculum and methods of teaching rather than the students’
lack of capacity to learn; Jones, Wilson & Bhaswani [2014].Various factors
have been adduced for poor performance of students in mathematics. The interest
of students in mathematics have been related to the volume of work completed,
students task orientation and skill acquisition, students personality, shortage
of qualified mathematics teachers, poor facilities, equipment and instructional
materials for effective teaching Odogwu [2015].
In making instruction interesting in
learning mathematics, there is need to use methods/strategies and
material/media which will make the learning of mathematics, active,
investigative and adventurous as much as possible. Such methods also must be
ones that take into account, learner’s differences and attitudes towards
mathematics as a subject. Examples could be the use of programmed learning
texts, use of concrete materials and other instructional devices, which are
manipulated.To enhance self-esteem of learners, which will in turn improve
attitude of such pupils, it is recommended that varying activities (game
activities), which has been designed to contain mathematics problems ranging
from easy to very difficult, should be used. This would go a long way to
motivate such pupils towards further learning. When an activity is designed
with its central feature being an admired situation, experience or individual,
it would go a long way in motivating, pupils to learn mathematics. For example,
in teaching addition at the primary school level, you could centre learning
activities around foods like snacks
(for example, I got two sweets from mummy and four from daddy how many sweet do
I have and so on). All these suggestions would help to motivate learners
towards learning. However, one strategy, which has been observed to bring about
motivation of learners to learn mathematics, is the use of game based strategy;
Aremu [2000].
Moreover,
individual characteristics such as intelligence, cognitive styles, and
personality play an important role in learning and instruction as does the
context of learning. Other research findings have shown that individual
students’ characteristics variables such as motivational orientations,
self-esteem and learning approaches are important factors influencing academic
achievements. In the effort to improve students’ cognition and affective
outcomes in mathematics and school learning, mathematics educators have
continued to search for variables (personal and environmental) that could be
manipulated in favour of academic gains. Of all the personal and psychological
variables that have attracted researchers in this area of educational
achievement, motivation seems to be gaining more popularity and leading other
variables; Aire & Tella The issue of motivating learners is seen as an
important aspect of effective learning. In fact psychologists believe that
motivation is a necessary ingredient for learning; Biehler and Snowman [2010].
They believe that satisfactory school learning is unlikely to take place in the
absence of sufficient motivation to learn; Fontana [2011]. These issues of
motivation of students in education and the impact on academic performance are
considered as an important aspect of effective learning. However, a learner’s
reaction to education determines the extent to which he or she will go in education.
The impact of motivation on education of mathematics of a child cannot be
undermined. That is why Hall [2010] believes that there is a need to motivate
pupils so as to arouse and sustain their interest in learning mathematics.
“Motivation raises question on why people behave in the way they do it”. An
individual could therefore, from psychologists’ point of view, be seen as
politically, socially and academically motivated depending on the motive behind
his or her activities. Hence, this study intends to investigate the impact of
motivation on student’s academic achievement in mathematics.
Statement of the Problem
It
is generally assumed that motivation influences people’s attitude and
performance at work. Teacher motivation is directly linked to the instructors’
desire to take part in the pedagogical process and interest in sharing their
knowledge with the students. It determines their involvement or no-involvement
in the teaching activities. Teachers put educational philosophy and objective
into the knowledge they transfer to their students.
Perhaps,
it is in realization of the importance of mathematics that it is made
compulsory at primary and secondary levels of education besides admission into
higher institutions and professional institutions. In Nigeria, students poor
performance in mathematics have been attributed to lack of motivation,poor
teaching methods, unqualified and inexperienced teachers, poor student attitude
toward mathematics, poor learning environment and gender effect. It is against
this background that the researchersinvestigate the role of motivation on
student’s academic achievement in secondary school mathematics.
Objectives of the Study
The
general objective of this study is to find out the impact
of motivation on students academic performance and learning outcome in
mathematics among secondary school students in Lagos state. A case study of Ajeromi Local Government Area
The
study intends to achieve the following objectives:
1. To determine the effect of
motivation on academic performance of male and female students in mathematics.
2. To compare the academic performance
of highly motivated and lowly motivated students in mathematics achievement
test.
3. To
determine if teacher motivation affect or influence student academic
performance
4. To
determine if principal leadership style affect or influence student academic
performance
1.3 Research Questions
In line with the objectives of the study, the following
research questions were raised in this study:
1. Is there any difference in the
impact of motivation on academic performance of male and female students in
mathematics?
2. Is there any difference in the academic
performance of highly motivated and lowly motivated students in mathematics?
3. Does
teacher motivation affect or influence student academic performance?
4. To
what extent does principal leadership style affect or influence student
academic performance
Research Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were formulated and tested at
0.05 level of significance.
Ho1: There is no
significant difference in
the impact of
motivation on academic
performance of male and female students in mathematics.
Ho2: There is no significant difference in the academic
performance of highly motivated and lowly motivated students in
mathematics achievement test.
Scope Of The Study
This
study will be carried out in some selected senior secondary school in Ajeromi Ifelodun local government
area of Lagos state, the study will cover five selected secondary schools in
the local government area.
Significant Of The Study
The
result of this study will help all stake holders in education i.e (Parents,
Teachers, Society, Student and Government) to pay their respective roles in
relation to the issue of motivation.
The
study will help government being the major employers of teacher are adequately
and appropriately motivated to boost their performance.
Government
i.e the educational administrator will be able to improve the teaching
profession by providing basic facilities for school to encourage teachers in a
conductive atmosphere.
The
study will bring about elevation of the failing standard of education to
encourage graduates, under graduates and student to have the intention of
coming into the teaching profession not to feel with drawn to wards teaching as
efforts are already course for an over view of teachers motivation.
The
study will also help the parents and the society to contribute their quota as
regards the issue of teacher’s motivation. This should build up the interest of
parent and society towards making deliberate effort to encourage teachers in
cash and kind, through the study, the society will be made better since the
quality of education depends to a large extent on the quality of the teachers.
Teachers
are nation builders, when they are motivated, they gladly give their best,
putting their welfare into consideration will enhance their job performance.
Definition Of Terms
v Motivation:-
It is the state that energizes, activities, moves, direct or channel behaviour
towards a defined goal.
v Teacher Motivation:-This
is anything done to make teacher happy, satisfy, dedicated and committed in
such a way that they bring out their best at work.
v Intrinsic Needs:-Those
are needs or factors naturally belonging to somebody. It is an interal motivator
that stirs up an individual toward, self actualization
v Extrinsic Needs:-
These are not naturally belonging to somebody. They are motivators that exist
outside then that within them. These include monetary incentives and
commendation.
v Job Satisfaction:-:-
This is the efficiency at which a teacher does his job. It is out standing
action displayed by the teacher in the course of carrying out an assigned task.
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