FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ATTITUDE OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS TOWARDS THE STUDY OF MATHEMATICS IN BOSSO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF NIGER STATE

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the factors influencing the attitude of senior secondary school students towards the study of Mathematics in Bosso Local Government Area of Niger. A descriptive survey design was used in carrying out the research; the focus was on senior secondary students in Bosso Local Government Area, Minna Niger. The population of the study is Seventeen thousand three hundred and ninety-one. Students with sample size of One hundred and sixty-eight from three schools were selected. Simple random sampling was used to select the sample size, Krejcie & Morgan formula was used to get the sample size and purposive sampling techniques was used to select the sampled schools. Four research questions guided the study. Mean and standard deviation were used in answering the research questions. The findings revealed that career prospects, having a good teacher, encouragement and support received from others, difficulty, selfconfidence, poor background and discouragement from peer group influence the attitude of senior secondary school students towards the study of Mathematics. An attempt to improve students’ attitude towards mathematics could be by teachers and parents to find ways to help develop a positive attitude of the students towards the study of Mathematics.