Sex Difference in the Attitude of Students Towards the Study of Mathematics

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject Mathematics - Miscellaneous, grade: Bachelor's Degree, University of Cape Coast, course: B.ED. Mathematics, language: English, abstract: Mathematics education is to a nation what protein is to a young human being. As a vital tool for the understanding and application of science and technology, the discipline plays the vital role of a precursor and harbinger to the much needed technological and of course national development, which has become an imperative in the developing nations of the world.

Most people have heard the age-old saying, "attitude is the key to success". Various quotes can be retrieved that subscribe to this philosophy. In education, research suggests that student attitudes toward a subject lead to academic success (Royster, Harris, and Schoeps, 1999; Popham, 2005). Generally speaking, mathematics is a subject that is often disliked, motivating researchers to investigate how mathematics attitude affects mathematics learning.

The topic for the study is "Sex difference in attitude towards the study of mathematics: A case study in some selected senior high schools in the cape coast metropolis". Reviewing the literature indicates that lot of work had been done in this area and in diverse ways.

The target population for the study was all senior high schools form three students (SHS 3) in Ghana. However, within the limit of time and efficiency, the accessible population was made up of all SHS 3 students in the Cape Coast metropolis of Central Region.

Under the categories of single sex female schools, single sex male schools and mixed sex schools, three schools were selected using the simple random sampling. For each school selected, the simple random sample was used to select 40 students. In all 120 students were selected for the study.Data for the study was collected by the use of a questionnaire.

The responses of the students on the questionnaire were collated and converted to percentages. Based on the outcomes of the research findings, conclusions and recommendations were made.