Eighth grade students attitudes and motivation levels regarding mathematics and the relationship between LGS success scores

The main purpose of this research is to determine the attitudes and motivation levels of eighth grade students towards mathematics and to examine the relationship between them and the central exam scores of the high school transition system. In addition, it was tried to determine whether the eighth grade students' attitudes towards mathematics, motivation and the central exam scores of the high school transition system differ according to their gender, taking private lessons outside of school, doing sports, dealing with art, and feeling adequately supported by family and teachers. The research is a designed as a descriptive study and a relational survey model, one of the quantitative research methods, was used. Within the scope of this model, the study group of the research was formed by using the easily accessible sampling method from the central schools of İzmir province due to the pandemic. The research was carried out with the participation of a total of 162 eighth grade students, 75 (47.5%) female students and 85 (52.5%) male students. Mathematics Attitude Scale, Academic Motivation Scale, and students' LGS (High School Entrance System) central exam scores and personal information form were used for the data of the study. The data obtained from the research were analyzed using the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) 23.0 program. Skewness and kurtosis were examined for the normal distribution of the data. During the analysis process, the data were described and interpreted using Factor Analysis, Independent Samples T-Test and Pearson Correlation Analysis. As a result of the research, the level of attitudes towards mathematics of the eighth grade students was found at a medium level, and their academic motivation level was at a high level. The average scores of the eighth grade students participating in the study in the High School Entrance System central exam scores were found to be 317.11. The Ministry of National Education announced that the average grade point average of all students who took the exam regarding the High School Entrance System central exam in 2019, when the research was conducted, was 298.87. In addition, he divided the range of points that can be taken into four different success categories: 100-199, 200-299, 300-399 and 400-500. The average score of the eighth grade students who participated in the study of the High School Entrance System central exam is included in the 300-399 point range category. Eighth grade students' attitudes towards mathematics, motivation and High School Entrance System central exam scores; It was understood that there was no statistically significant difference in terms of gender, doing sports, dealing with art, and feeling enough teacher support. Again, while there was no significant difference in the attitudes and motivation levels of students according to their private lessons, there was a positive differentiation in LGS scores. In addition, it was concluded that students who think that they receive enough family support have higher attitudes and motivation levels towards mathematics and LGS scores. According to the results of the correlation analysis, there was a moderately significant positive correlation between the eighth grade students' attitudes towards mathematics and their LGS scores. No significant relationship was found between students' motivation levels, their attitudes towards mathematics and their LGS scores. However, there was a weak positive correlation between the attitude towards mathematics and the sub-dimensions of the motivation scale representing intrinsic motivation and a moderately significant negative correlation with the amotivation sub-dimension. It has been observed that LGS scores and the motivation scale have a significant positive relationship with the intrinsic and determined extrinsic motivation sub-dimensions for science, and a weak positive relationship with the amotivation sub-dimension at a moderate level in the negative direction. This research has shown that although the motivation of the eighth grade students is high, there is no relationship between the motivation levels of the students and their LGS scores. On the other hand, there is a moderately significant positive correlation between the attitudes of the eighth grade students towards mathematics, and between the students' attitudes towards mathematics and their LGS scores.