FACTORS AFFECTING MATHEMATICS ATTITUDES IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS

The motivation for this research and the methodology used were prompted by a concern that mathematics attitudes measured by existing scales may not be those that are of major importance to community college students who are enrolled in arithmetic and beginning algebra classes. The goal of the research was to identify aspects of mathematics that were relevant to this population and to identify needs that determine this relevance. In the initial phase of the research, students were required to list words or phrases which they would use to describe to others the good and bad properties of mathematics, why they did or did not enjoy mathematics, and why they did or did not value mathematics. It was assumed that the language used would identify aspects of mathematics relevant to these students. The language was categorized and three characteristics of mathematics appeared to dominate the concerns of students--the challenging nature of mathematics, the definite nature of mathematics, and the practicality of mathematics. Language from each category was used in the construction of Likert-type items measuring the importance of each of these aspects of mathematics. Based on interviews and answers to open-response questions, items were constructed that were intended to measure needs that influenced the importance of each of the three relevant areas that were identified. Items intended to measure mathematics self-concept, mathematics achievement, fear of failure in mathematics-related tasks, and reaction to others in classroom situations were constructed in order to gain further insight. A factor analysis identified five scales: (1) Fear of Failure in Mathematics-Related Tasks, (2) Mathematics Self-Concept, (3) the Importance of a Mathematical Challenge, (4) the Importance of the Practicality of Mathematics, and (5) Mathematics Achievement. Significant correlations were found to exist only between the Self-Concept and Achievement scales, and Fear of Failure and each of the other scales with the exception of the Challenge scale. Based on correlations between the scales and items hypothesized to measure needs, there was evidence that the importance of a challenge was influenced by a need for accomplishment, and that the importance of the practicality of mathematics was influenced by a concern for survival in areas where mathematics would be used in the future. Although obtaining definite answers appeared to be of importance to many students, no conclusions could be drawn as to why this was true