Post on 06-Jan-2016
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A STUDY ON DIFFICULT ON A STUDY ON DIFFICULT ON MATHEMATICS SUBJECT AMONG THE MATHEMATICS SUBJECT AMONG THE
STUDENTS OF ENGINEERING COLLEGE STUDENTS OF ENGINEERING COLLEGE IN DINDIGUL DISTRICTIN DINDIGUL DISTRICT
Presented by
G. UMAG. UMAAssistant Professor
Department of Mathematics
ANNA UNIVERSITYANNA UNIVERSITY University College of EngineeringUniversity College of Engineering
Dindigul.Dindigul.
Co-Author
Dr. B. V. GOPALDr. B. V. GOPAL
Vice PrincipalVice Principal
K. Nanjappa Gounder College of K. Nanjappa Gounder College of EducationEducation
Akyshaya Nagar
Dindigul, Tamilnadugopaletbdu@gmail.com
CONTEXTUAL PROLOGUE
Mathematics subject is indispensable part in Engineering
studies. If our students are to function effectively in this era
of rapid technological advancement and globalization, they
must be Mathematically Literate.
But nowadays in our Engineering stream, Mathematics is
considered as one of the main obstacle to get through their
degree.
Cont…
The Kothari Commission (1964-66) emphasizes the
significance of mathematics in by stating that “The advent
of automation and cybernetics, in this century, marks the
beginning of the scientific industrial revolution and makes
it all the more imperative to devote special attention to the
study of mathematics. Proper foundation to the knowledge
of the subject should be laid in the school”.
Sazhin, 1997 has correctly pointed out that “mathematics is
an essential for engineering area to be understanding as a
language for describing physical, chemical, and other
formulation in term of mathematical enquiry”
RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY
The aims of teaching mathematics and sciences will be distinct
from those of teaching languages and social sciences.
Mathematics with its special features has wider applications in
daily life and other fields of study. This facilitates the correlation
of mathematics with other fields and disciplines.
As the teaching of Mathematics subject should be visualized as
the vehicle to train an engineering student to think, reason,
analyze and to articulate logically, the “Investigators sorted
out the level of the Difficulties on Achievement in
Mathematics among the Engineering Students”.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
Major objective of the study was
To find out the level of Difficult on Mathematics
Subject among the Students of Engineering College.
Specific objective of the study were
To find out Significant Difference on Mean Values of Difficult
on Mathematics subject among Male and Female students
of engineering college.
To find out the Significant Difference on Mean Values of
Difficult on Mathematics subject among the students of
engineering college with respect to their Locality of
Residence. Cont….
Cont…
To find out the Significant Difference on Mean Values of
Difficult on Mathematics subject among the students of
engineering college with respect to their Type of
Management.
To find out the Significant Difference on Mean Values of
Difficult on Mathematics subject among the students of
engineering college with respect to their Parental
Education.
To find out the Significant Difference on Mean Values of
Difficult on Mathematics subject among the students of
engineering college with respect to their Parental Income.
HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY
The hypotheses of the study were framed according to the
objectives of the study and were stated below.
There is no Significant Difference on Mean Values of Difficult
on Mathematics subject among the students of engineering
college with respect to their Gender.
There is no Significant Difference on Mean Values of Difficult
on Mathematics subject among the students of engineering
college with respect to their Locality of Residence.
There is no Significant Difference on Mean Values of Difficult
on Mathematics subject among the students of engineering
college with respect to their Type of Management.
Cont….
Cont….
There is no Significant Difference On Mean Values Of
Difficult on Mathematics subject among the students of
engineering college with respect to their Parental
Education.
There is no Significant Difference on Mean Values of
Difficult on Mathematics subject among the students of
engineering college with respect to their Parental
Income.
METHODOLOGY
The design of the present research study
belongs to the Survey Method.
(i) Selection and Size of the Sample
Random Sampling Technique was used to select the sample.
Sample consisted of 150 Engineering students from
different Colleges of Engineering.
Cont..
(ii) Variables of the Study
The Dependent Variable involved in this study was
Difficult on Achievement in Mathematics.
The Demographic variables used in this study were
Gender, Locality of residence, Type of Management,
Parental Education and Parental Income.
Cont..
(iii) Tool Development
The investigators themselves developed the tool namely,
“Difficult on Achievement in Mathematics (DAM)”.
The tool comprises 55 items in four point rating scale
such as Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree and Strongly Disagree.
To conduct pilot study preliminary draft was neatly
typed which includes 75 items in four point rating scale and
administered to 30 engineering students
Ultimately the total number of 75 items was reduced to
55 items for the final draft.
The modification of the final draft was done as per the
opinion and suggestions given by three educational experts so
as to find out the validity of the tool.
Cont….
Cont….The value of co-efficient of the reliability of the tool
through Split-Half Method is found to be 0.87 which is found
to be highly reliable to administer it.
(iv) Administering the Tool
The final draft of the standardised tool was
administered to 150 engineering students from various
colleges of engineering. After collecting the data from the
sample, the master table was prepared.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data was analyzed with appropriate
statistical measures. The data have been
analyzed by SPSS Package (16th version).
The investigators followed Mean, Standard
deviation and ‘t’ test for the analysis of the data.
The results and interpretation of data are
presented in the following tables.
TABLE 1 MEAN AND STANDARD DEVIATION SCORES ON DIFFICULT ON MATHEMATICS
SUBJECT AMONG THE STUDENTS OF ENGINEERING COLLEGE IN TOTAL
S. No CategoryN Mean
Std. Deviation
01. Total 150 61.67 3.80
02. Gender Male 67 61.73 3.98
Female 83 61.61 3.68
03. Locality of Residence Rural 88 61.91 3.46
Urban 62 61.32 4.25
04.Type of Management Government 67 61.19 3.75
Private 83 62.05 3.83
05. Parental Education School 75 61.59 4.02
College 75 61.75 3.61
06. Parental Income Below Rs.20000 72 62.04 3.71
Above Rs.20000 78 61.32 3.88
Table 1 reveals that the obtained Maximum and
Minimum Mean Scores of level of difficult on
Mathematics subject among the students of
engineering college are 62.05 and 61.19 and with
respect to SD are 4.25 and 3.46. It is also understood
that Mean and SD scores on the level of difficult on
Mathematics subject in Total are 61.67 and 3.80. It
shows that the level of Mean scores (61.67) of
Difficult on Mathematics subject among the
students of engineering college is found to be
Moderate.
TABLE 2
‘t’ VALUES BETWEEN THE MEAN VALUES ON THE LEVEL OF DIFFICULT ON MATHEMATICS SUBJECT
AMONG THE STUDENTS OF ENGINEERING COLLEGE WITH REPECT TO THEIR GENDER
GenderN Mean Std. Deviation ‘t’
Level of Significance at 0.05 level
Male 67 61.73 3.98
0.18** NSFemale 83 61.61 3.68
** Not Significant at 0.05 level
Table 2 shows that the ‘t’ value 0.18 is not significant
at 0.05 level. The results show that there is no significant
difference among the Male and Female students of
engineering college towards their level of difficult on
Mathematics subject. Hence, the framed null hypothesis is
found to be accepted.
TABLE 3
‘t’ VALUES BETWEEN THE MEAN VALUES ON THE LEVEL OF DIFFICULT ON MATHEMATICS SUBJECT AMONG THE STUDENTS OF ENGINEERING COLLEGE WITH REPECT TO
THEIR LOCALITY OF RESIDENCE
Locality of Residence N Mean Std. Deviation ‘t’
Level of Significance at 0.05 level
Rural 88 61.91 3.46
0.89** NSUrban 62 61.32 4.26
** Not Significant at 0.05 level
It is understood from the Table 3 that the ‘t’ value 0.89
is not significant at 0.5 level. It is inferred that the Mean values
on the level of difficult on Mathematics subject among the
students of engineering college with respect to locality of
residence is found to be similar. Hence the framed null
hypothesis is found to be accepted.
TABLE 4
‘t’ VALUES BETWEEN THE MEAN VALUES ON THE LEVEL OF DIFFICULT ON MATHEMATICS SUBJECT AMONG THE STUDENTS OF ENGINEERING COLLEGE WITH REPECT TO
THEIR TYPE OF MANAGEMENT
Type of
management N MeanStd.
Deviation ‘t’
Level of Significance at 0.05 level
Government 67 61.19 3.75
1.37** NSPrivate 83 62.05 3.83
** Not Significant at 0.05 level
It is obviously seen from the Table 4 that the ‘t’ value
1.37 is not significant at 0.5 levels. It is understood from the
results that there is no significant difference between the Mean
values on the level of difficult on Mathematics subject among
the students of engineering college with respect to type of
management. Hence the framed null hypothesis is found to
be accepted.
TABLE 5
‘t’ VALUES BETWEEN THE MEAN VALUES ON THE LEVEL OF DIFFICULT ON MATHEMATICS SUBJECT AMONG THE STUDENTS OF ENGINEERING COLLEGE WITH REPECT TO
THEIR PARENTAL EDUCATION
Parental
Education N MeanStd.
Deviation ‘t’
Level of Significance at 0.05 level
School 75 61.59 4.02
0.26** NSCollege 75 61.75 3.61
** Not Significant at 0.05 level
The above Table 5 shows that the computed ‘t’ value
0.26 is less than the critical value 1.96 at 0.05 level and hence
it is not significant. The result revealed that the level of
difficult on Mathematics subject among the students of
engineering college with respect to their parental education is
found to be similar. Hence the framed null hypothesis is
found to be accepted.
TABLE 6
‘t’ VALUES BETWEEN THE MEAN VALUES ON THE LEVEL OF DIFFICULT ON MATHEMATICS SUBJECT AMONG THE STUDENTS OF ENGINEERING COLLEGE WITH REPECT TO
THEIR PARENTAL MONTHLY INCOME
Parental
Income N MeanStd.
Deviation ‘t’
Level of Significance at 0.05 level
Below 20000 72 62.04 3.71
1.16** NSAbove 20000 78 61.32 3.88
** Not Significant at 0.05 level
It is seen from the Table 6 that the ‘t’ value 1.16 is not
significant at 0.05 level. The result shows that there is no
significant difference between the mean values of the students
of engineering college whose parental monthly income below
Rs. 20,000 and the students whose parental monthly income
above Rs. 20,000 towards the Difficult on the Mathematics
subject. Hence the framed null hypothesis is found to be
accepted.
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY Difficulties on Achievement in Mathematics among the
engineering students are found to be moderate (Mean
Scores = 61.67).
Both Male and Female students of engineering college in
Dindigul district are having similar levels of difficulties on
achievement in mathematics.
It is inferred that the Mean values on the level of difficult on
Mathematics subject among the students of engineering
college with respect to locality of residence is found to be
similar.
Cont….
Cont….
It is inferred from the findings that Government and Private
engineering students are having similar levels of difficulties
on achievement in Mathematics.
The result revealed that there is similarity towards the level
of difficult on Mathematics subject among the students of
engineering college with respect to their Parental Education.
There is no significant difference between the mean values of
the students of engineering college whose parental monthly
income below Rs. 20,000 and the students whose parental
monthly income above Rs. 20,000 towards the Difficult on
the Mathematics subject.
DISCUSSIONFrom the Descriptive Analysis, it is understood that level of
difficulty in Mathematics subject is found to be moderate.
It is contradictory to the results investigated by Mrinal
Sarma and Majidul Ahmed (2013) .
On analysis of the data through the ‘t’ test, there is no
significant difference in the Mean values on the level of
difficult on Mathematics subject with reference to their
demographic variables such as the Gender, Locality of
residence, Type of Management, Parental Education and
Parental Income .
Cont….
Cont…. But in the case of study conducted by Catherine (2012)
entitled ‘Female interest in Mathematics’ revealed that
there is gender bias i.e. the Female students shows less
interest in mathematics subject than male students.
Nicole (2003) stated that the Female students will perform
at the similar level as the male students when they are
adopted the right educational tools
Cont….
Cont….
Difficult on Mathematics subject among the engineering
students with respect to selected demographic variables are
found to be similar.This may be due to the interrelated factors
like attitude, intellectual skills, self-concept and problem
solving ability which do not have any effect in the selected
demographic variables for the present study.
Foong (1987) reported that the students who dislike
mathematics view their former teachers as intolerant and their
performance is due to the negative attitude of the teachers.
CONCLUSION
Findings of this study would definitely help the
engineering students and teachers to bridge the gap
among various levels of education which involves
mathematics as the subject.
The teaching methodology may be modified with
integration of technology based teaching in the classroom
and more comprehensive the blended learning to be
followed so that the teaching-learning process can be
enhanced.
Cont….
Cont….
For the engineering students Mathematics is a prime factor for
their academic career development. This study shows that
engineering students should require more relevant knowledge
and be able to apply appropriate skills to solve mathematical
problems.
Also the significance of results of the present study
highlighted the teachers have to take extra effort to reduce
the difficulty level on achievement in mathematics by
insisting the repository nature of Mathematics.
To adopt Technology Oriented Method of Instruction in the
classroom to achieve high academic standards in Mathematics
subject.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This study was conducted with co-operation and
support of engineering students and faculty of the
concerned institution to collect the relevant data for
research work.