Students' views and behaviors towards mathematics: Evidence from PISA 2022

This study aims to identify students' views on mathematics and the behaviors they exhibit to learn it, as well as to examine whether these views and behaviors differ according to certain demographic variables. The sample of the study consists of data from the 2022 Turkey implementation of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Data from 7,250 students were utilized in the research. The study employed quantitative data, which were analyzed using appropriate statistical software. Students' views on mathematics and their effort levels related to the subject were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods such as frequency and percentage. Additionally, the Mann-Whitney U test was applied to determine whether there was a significant difference between groups based on gender; and the Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for variables involving multiple groups, such as the number of siblings and parents' educational levels. The findings indicated that students' views on mathematics were primarily anxiety-driven. It was found that gender and parents' education levels led to significant differences in students' anxiety levels, while the number of siblings did not have a significant effect. It was also concluded that the behaviors students exhibited to learn mathematics involved positive efforts. Furthermore, it was determined that gender, number of siblings, and parents' education levels caused significant differences in students' behaviors toward learning mathematics. Based on these findings, it can be suggested that a certain level of anxiety may positively influence students' behaviors related to learning mathematics.