INFLUENCE OF STUDENTS’ BELIEFS AND CONCEPTIONS ON LEARNING

ABSTRACT

This study examined the influence of students’ beliefs and conceptions on learning and performance of school mathematics in Edo South Senatorial District. Twelve research questions and nine hypotheses guided the study. The expo-facto research design was used for this study and Stratified sampling techniques was used to sample three hundred students which were stratified into two equal parts: male and female, urban and rural, public and private. The research instruments for the study were students’ raw score and a questionnaire which consist of twenty items: ten items for students’ beliefs about Mathematics while ten items for students’ conceptions on learning Mathematics. Reliability coefficient of 0.70 was obtained using Cronbach alpha coefficient. Data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while correlation statistics and fisher Z statistics were used to test the hypotheses. The result reveals that students’ level of beliefs in learning Mathematics is low while students’ conceptions on learning Mathematics is high, Students‘ performance in learning Mathematics can be influenced by their beliefs and conceptions on learning, Students’ Beliefs in their ability in learning influenced their conceptions on learning school Mathematics, There is no relationship between students’ beliefs and performance in Mathematics by gender, school location and school type and There is no relationship between students’ conceptions on learning and performance in Mathematics by gender and school type. It was therefore concluded that students should develop right beliefs and right conceptions in learning Mathematics. The researcher made the following recommendations that parents, teachers, school administrators and Federal Ministry of Education should focus on helping students to get the right beliefs and conceptions on learning rather than focusing on gender factor, school location or school type as a the cause of poor performance in Mathematics.