Paradigm Shift in Attitudes towards Mathematics Achievement of Students in Some Selected Secondary Schools in Ogun and Oyo States

Abstract

The attitudes, interests, self-concepts and factors such as anxiety and frustration all of which 
influence and interact with student?s motivation and which they carry to mathematics lessons 
affect the way they feel about mathematics. Most of these factors are either acquired by 
students while at the primary school levels or at home from their parents or siblings or from 
their seniors who had bad experiences from their mathematics teachers. This study looked at 
the paradigm shift in attitudes towards mathematics achievement of students in some selected 
secondary schools in Ogun and Oyo states with a view to ascertain which of the seven 
categories of these shifts are significant. Descriptive survey design was used with simple 
random sampling technique in getting the population of 183 students comprising 100 from 
Ogun States and 83 from Oyo state. Simple percentages and correlation statistics were used 
to analyse the data. The results showed that there is a significant relationship between how 
students explore other areas in problem solving in mathematics (0.74) and their confidence 
(0.68) followed by dependence on procedures (0.54) to how they perceive mathematics to the 
real world and its usefulness to them (0.48). It is recommended that teachers and 
mathematics educators should pay serious attention to attitudinal shifts of students in these 
areas in order to help them achieve better in mathematics. The teacher should motivate and 
employ other methods of catching the attention of students using various means like story telling, folklores, use of local materials in the students? environment and examples of mathematicians who are excelling in their chosen careers both 
locally and internationally to teach the subject to students.