Factors Determining Mathematics Performance of High School Students: Implications for Teacher Education

Jovelyn G Delosa¹ and Janneth A Ong^1,

¹Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines

Cite this paper:
Jovelyn G Delosa and Janneth A Ong. Factors Determining Mathematics Performance of High School Students: Implications for Teacher Education. American Journal of Educational Research. 2021; 9(2):61-66. doi: 10.12691/education-9-2-1

Abstract

The alignment between the goals of pre-service education and that of in-service education is important. Institutions which offer a degree in education must constantly connect and understand the experiences of the teachers and learners in the elementary and secondary schools so that they can offer better undergraduate programs. This study explored how critical thinking skills of secondary students contribute to their Mathematics performance. There were 236 secondary student participants in this study from a private high school in Mindanao, Philippines. Correlational design was utilized in this study. A questionnaire was used to gather data on critical thinking skills of the students. The questionnaire has undergone Rasch analysis with reliability indices of .88 (high) for Part 1 and .77 (moderate) for Part 2 thus establishing preliminary evidence of construct validity. Using path analysis, the model showed that critical thinking skills significantly explained the Mathematics performance of the participants. The results called for a need to address the teaching of critical thinking skills among secondary students because this will benefit the facilitation of better Mathematics performance. Critical thinking skills must be taught alongside Mathematics content. Teachers carry out multiple roles of delivering the content at the same time honing the critical thinking skills of the students. Undergraduate education specifically for teacher education has an important role to play in preparing future teachers on how to develop critical thinking skills of their students. It is a two-way task of developing future teachers to be critical thinkers and teaching them how to teach such skills to their students so that when they are in the field of teaching, they teach both content and critical thinking skills.

Keywords:
critical thinking skills teacher education math education Rasch analysis performance in Mathematics

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Philippine K to 12 Curriculum Guide, 2012.
[2]	Ibale, J., “Predictive ability of the teacher-made grade 4 entrance tests in English and mathematics on the academic achievement of the grade 4 pupils of Corpus Christi,” (Unpublished master’s thesis), Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City, 2011.
[3]	House, J. D. “High School Achievement and Admissions Test Scores as Predictors of Course Performance of American Indian and Alaska Native Students,” The Journal of Psychology, vol. 132, no. 6, pp. 680-682, 1998.
[4]	Papenhausen, N.V., “Independent School Entrance Testing as a Predictor of Student Academic Success,” Order No. 3667426 Pepperdine University, 2014. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 8 Dec. 2020. Available: ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/independent- school-entrance-testing-as-predictor/docview/1647451470/se- 2?accountid=31223. [Accessed December 8, 2020].
[5]	Gonzalez, J., “Promoting higher order thinking in mathematics,” Ph.D. diss., Kean University, 2012. Available: ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/promoting-higher- order-thinking-mathematics/docview/1021129111/se- 2?accountid=31223 [Accessed December 8, 2020].
[6]	United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, “Challenges in Basic Mathematics Education”, 2011. Available: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0019/001917/191776e.pdf.
[7]	Brown, C., “Equity of literacy-based math performance assessments for English language learners,” Bilingual Research Journal 29, (2) (Summer): 337-363, 497. Available: https://search.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/equity-literacy- based-math-performance/docview/222006731/se- 2?accountid=31223 [Accessed December 8, 2020].
[8]	Garcia, B., “The relationship of English and mathematics competency of college freshman: An Input for English Program Designing,” (Unpublished master’s thesis), Mindanao University of Science and Technology, Cagayan de Oro City, 2010.
[9]	Henry, D. L., Baltes, B., & Nistor, N., “Examining the relationship between math scores and English language proficiency,” Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 4(1), 2014. Available: https://search.proquest.com/docview/1842488659?accountid=31223. [Accessed December 8, 2020].
[10]	Dewey, J., How we think, D.C.: Heath and Company.
[11]	Forsythe-Newell, S., “Revitalizing critical thinking (Order No. 3627726), 2014. Education Database. (1559970360). Available: https://search.proquest.com/docview/1559970360?accountid=31223.
[12]	Janubas, M., “Level of critical thinking skills of the second-year students of Xavier University High School of School Year 2011-2012,” (Unpublished master’s thesis), Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City, 2012.
[13]	Tanujaya, B., Mumu, J., & Margono, G., “The Relationship between Higher Order Thinking Skills and Academic Performance of Student in Mathematics Instruction,” International Education Studies, 10(11), 78-85, 2017.
[14]	Chukwuyenum, A., “Impact of Critical thinking on Performance in Mathematics among Senior Secondary School Students in Lagos State”, IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSRJRME). 3. 18-25. 10.9790/7388-0351825, 2013.
[15]	Alcantara, E. C., and Bacsa, J. M. P., “Critical thinking and problem solving skills in mathematics of grade-7 public secondary students,” Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 5(4), 21-27, 2017. Available: http://www.apjmr.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/APJMR-2017.5.4.2.03.pdf.
[16]	Stage, F., Carter, H., & Nora, A., “Path Analysis: An introduction and analysis of a decade of research, “The Journal of Educational Research 98(1), 2004. Available: http://search.proquest.com/docview/204199880?accountid=31223.
[17]	Aziz, A. & Masodi, M., “Rasch analysis: A practical guide to Winsteps®”, 2010. Available: ilqam.uitm.edu.
[18]	Linacre, M., “Practical Rasch Measurement”, 2011. Available: wwwwinsteps.com.
[19]	Linacre, J. M. (2015). Ministep (Version 3.9) [Computer Software], 2015. Beaverton OR: Winsteps.com.
[20]	Hu, L., & Bentler, P., “Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives”. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1-55, 1999. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1998-03102-001
[21]	Endrina, J., “Level of critical thinking skills of second year education students: Its effect on their achievement in mathematics”, (Unpublished master’s thesis). Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City, 2011.
[22]	Rashid, R.A & Hashim, R.A., “The Relationship Between Critical Thinking and Language Proficiency of Malaysian Undegraduates”, 2008. Available: http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ceducom/36.
[23]	Jackson, L., “Increasing Critical Thinking Skills to Improve Problem-Solving Ability in Mathematics,” 2000. Available: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED446995
[24]	Bakir, S., “Critical thinking dispositions of pre-service teachers,” Educational Research and Reviews, 10(2), 225-233, 2015.
[25]	Critical Thinking Skills and Teacher Education. ERIC Digest 3-88, 1988. Available: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED297003.
[26]	Reed, J. & Kromrey, J., “Teaching critical thinking in a community college history course: Empirical evidence from infusing Paul’s model,” College Student Journal, 35(2), 201-216, 2001.
[27]	Willingham, D., “Critical thinking: Why is it so hard to teach?” Arts education policy review, 109(4), 21-32, 2008. Available: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/505e7a18e4b0a01995610030/ t/54cfebe6e4b0c38 f7e1b132/1422912486218/Crit_thinking.pdf.
[28]	Ennis, R., “Critical thinking: What is it?” Proceedings of the Forty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the Philosophy of Education Society. Denver.
[29]	Wang, X. & Zheng, H. (2016). Reasoning critical thinking: Is it born or made?” Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 6, No. 6, pp. 1323-1331, June 2016.
[30]	Hager, P. & Kaye, M., “Critical thinking in teacher education: A process-oriented research agenda,” Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 17(2), 1992.
[31]	Resnick, L., Asterhan, C., & Clarke, S., “Accountable talk: Instructional dialogue that builds the mind”, 2018. Available: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000262675.
[32]	Quines, E., “Effectiveness of Cooperative Learning Approach in Developing Critical Thinking Skills of Secondary Students,” Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315850060_.
[33]	Devi, A., Musthafa, B., & Gustine, G., “Using cooperative learning in teaching critical thinking in reading. English Review: Journal of English Education, 4(1), 1-14, 2015.