International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) | Volume VII, Issue VI, June 2022 | ISSN 2454–6194
Albert G. Camacho
Associate Professor, University of Mindanao Panabo College, Pedro N. Arguelles St., Brgy San Francisco, Panabo City, Philippines
Abstract: This study determined the mediating effect of academic motivation on the relationship between metacognitive skills, student attitudes and beliefs toward mathematics in selected colleges, particularly Davao del Norte. The study adopted a quantitative non-experimental correlational descriptive survey design with a sample of 339 first-year college students. Sets of adapted survey questionnaires were used in this study to obtain data from the respondents subjected for content validity and reliability analysis. The data were analyzed using the Mean, Pearson-r, Multiple Regression Analysis, and Medgraph using the Sobel z-test. The results revealed that in first-year college students; levels of academic motivation, metacognitive skills, attitude and beliefs are evident most of the time. Moreover, a significant relationship existed between these variables. The mediation of academic motivation on the relationship between metacognitive skills, students’ attitudes and beliefs towards the mathematics of first-year college in a selected institution was proven in the study.
Keywords: Academic motivation, metacognitive skills, student attitude towards mathematics, First-year college students, Philippines
I.INTRODUCTION
In many university courses and topics, including engineering, science, and social sciences, individual skills and attitudes are respected (Can, et al., 2017) because of their importance in many fields in academic, professional, and everyday life. Student attitude and beliefs in mathematics are the most significant factor affecting student achievement levels (Yasar, 2015). Nevertheless, students’ negative attitudes and beliefs toward mathematics can influence low performance in mathematics (Samuels, 2014). In Botswana, Saharan Africa, there is the most insufficient measure of attitude and beliefs towards mathematics among all subjects, and this affects the motivation of students to study the issue, as a result, they perform poorly and are becoming worse at the subjects. Students at all levels display a deficient level of interest in mathematics, and mathematics is a terrifying topic to be avoided as far as possible (Nenty, Kgosidialwa, & Moeti, 2016).
Learning mathematics does not only entail thought and reasoning, and it depends on the learners’ attitude and beliefs towards learning and mathematics (Kele & Sharma, 2014). The affective aspect of the attitudes and beliefs of students is, therefore, the root of driving student engagement with mathematics. In addition, the affective element is often affected by the idea generated by the 2 cognitive components of attitude and beliefs, which produces a mentality that becomes persistent over time and affects the students’ feelings