Learning Maths with no Fear

Posljednjih stotinjak godina matematika se smatra jednim od najvažnijih nastavnih predmeta u školi (Bishop, Hart, Lerman, & Nunes, 1993). Bez obzira što je matematika važan predmet ponajprije zbog svoje praktične uloge na pojedinca i društvo, u današnje vrijeme zauzima status najtežeg i najzahtjevnijeg nastavnog predmeta. U ovom istraživanju sam ispitala kakve stavove o matematici imaju učenici četvrtih i petih razreda, te pojavljuje li se među njima osjećaj straha prema matematici. Ispitanici su bili učenici četvrtih i petih razreda jer sam htjela ispitati koliko na učenike djeluje prijelaz iz razredne u predmetnu nastavu, s obzirom na novo razredno okruženje, promjenu nastavnika te zahtjevnije nastavno gradivo petog razreda u odnosu na četvrti. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo ukupno 140 učenika. Učenici su ispunjavali anketni upitnik kojim su procjenjivali koliko se slažu s ponuđenim pozitivnim i negativnim tvrdnjama. Rezultati su pokazali da većina učenika ima negativne osjećaje prema matematici, jer su se najvećim dijelom složili s negativnim tvrdnjama. U istraživanju se nije pojavila statistički značajna razlika među učenicima s obzirom na spol, dok se pojavila značajna razlika među razredima, i to među pojedinim tvrdnjama. Učenici razredne nastave imaju pozitivnije osjećaje prema matematici od učenika predmetne nastave. Usprkos tome, najveći dio učenika razredne i predmetne nastave pokazao je veliko slaganje s negativnim tvrdnjama, što ukazuje na to kako ipak postoji osjećaj straha među učenicima.For the last one hundred years, Mathematics was considered as one of the most important school subjects (Bishop, Hart, Lerman, & Nunes, 1993). Notwithstanding the fact that Mathematics is an important subject mainly due to its practical role for individuals, as well as society as a whole, today it takes on the role of the hardest and most challenging subject. In this study, I examined the attitudes about Mathematics with students of fourth and fifth grades, as well as tested if there exists among them a sense of fear towards Mathematics. The subjects were pupils of fourth and fifth grades because I wanted to test the measure of impact of transition from class teaching to subject teaching on pupils, as regards to new classroom environment, change of the class teacher, as well as to a more challenging teaching content of the fifth grade. The study included a total od 140 students.The students were asked to complete a questionnaire that assessed how much they agree with positive and negative statements. The results showed that most students have negative feelings towards Mathematics because they largely agreed with negative statements. The study did not show a statistically significant difference among students with regards to gender, but there appeared a significant difference between grades, specifically between certain statements. Students belonging the class teaching group have had more positive feelings towards Mathematics, as opposed to students in the subject teaching group. Nevertheless, most of the students of class teaching and subject teaching groups showed high level of agreement with the negative statements, which indicated that there is indeed a sense of fear among students