CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the relevant literature and studies that the researchers considered

in strengthening the importance of the present study. It also presents the synthesis of the art to

fully understand the research for better comprehension of the study.

Students’ Mathematics Performance

According to the study of Mabena (2021), Learners’ mathematics performance globally

and locally has been a major concern. Learners are generally not performing well in

mathematics. This is also true of learners in Kwagga West Circuit, Nkangala district in

Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Performing badly in the subject negatively affects them,

preventing them from progressing to the next grades. The TIMSS reported that between 68 per

cent and 90 per cent of African boys and girls in Grade 8 failed to reach the low international

benchmark in mathematics. Philippines also suffer from the same concern and most especially

in our local since there is no previous studies about this topic.

The participation of the Philippines in TIMSS confirmed this deplorable condition-based

from the report posted last 2013 that the performance of Filipino students in national and

international surveys on mathematics and science competencies lag behind its neighboring

countries like Singapore, South Korea, Hongkong, Chinese Taipei and Japan (Care et al.,

2015). This shows that the students here in the country are having difficulties in Mathematics

which needs further study to cope up with the factors affecting it.

According to Morosanova et al. (2016), success in mathematics is affected by three

variables namely: Intelligence (IQ) and cognitive entry skills, quality of instruction, and

affective characteristics. Although mathematics is intellectual, much research has

account for the remaining variation. Study habits and attitudes are considered to be non-

intellective factors that do correspond to grades for college students. The mathematics

performance of the students are being affected by certain factors in which a one variable of this

current study.

Study Habits

The study revealed that study habits influence students’ achievement in mathematics. It

also revealed that good study habits leads to better achievement in mathematics. It was also

observed that students with good study habit have better achievement compare to those with

poor study habit. From the findings researchers discovered that lack of good study habits,

results to poor achievement in mathematics (Odiri, 2017). This is why study habits is a variable

in the current study, to further examine the relationship of study habits to the mathematics

performance of the students.

According to Hills and Ballow (2019), the study habits of students play a vital role in

reflecting the standard of education and the students’ academic performance in mathematics.

The students cannot be expected to learn everything needed about the subject from their

teachers in the classroom alone, it is the combination of both the classroom learning and out of

classroom learning that make up students’ study habits. The need for effective counselling

services among students cannot be overemphasized in order to achieve good academic

performances. Study habits is a big factor the mathematics performance of the students and

most probably in the current research locale.

Although not every learning strategy or study habit produces useful results in terms of

academic achievement, it would be expected that students who possess good study habits in

general are better performers than those students with poor study habits (Nonis and Hudson,
2016). Teachers and parents are concerned with how they can make changes in order to

motivate and boost the learners to learn a particular subject. Furthermore, students can also

strengthen the education they want to attain by building a sense of responsibility in learning the

subject and through possessing such things as good and effective study habits that can help

them acquire high and successful performance.

Economic Status

It is known that economic factors have an influence on mathematical achievement.

Nowadays such link has become a “fact” that researchers, teachers, administrators and

politicians have at hand: “the better off you—and your family—are, the more likely you will do

well in school, including mathematics”. Such a statement embodies its opposite: “the worse off

you—and your family—are, the more likely you will do poorly in school and mathematics”

(Valero, 2017). This factor leaves the students successful or unsuccessful in their studies

specifically in mathematics.

Socioeconomic background is one of the strongest, best-established predictors of

academic achievement (Claro, Paunesku, & Dweck, 2016). The achievement gap in

socioeconomic backgrounds remains a significant issue that has led to the implementation of

many educational reforms and policies in nations around the world. For example, the No Child

Left Behind (NCLB) Act was implemented in the United States in 2001 to ensure more children

were empowered through quality education. This indicates that the economic status will also

affect the sample students in the current study since Philippines is one of the poorest country

more specifically in this region where most of the people are in the lowest class and in the

middle class socioeconomic status.

According to American Psychological Association (2022) research indicates that children

from low-SES households and communities develop academic skills slower than children from
higher SES groups. For instance, low SES in childhood is related to poor cognitive

development, language, memory, socioemotional processing, and consequently poor income

and health in adulthood. The school systems in low-SES communities are often

underresourced, negatively affecting students’ academic progress and outcomes. Inadequate

education and increased dropout rates affect children’s academic achievement, perpetuating

the low-SES status of the community. Improving school systems and early intervention

programs may help to reduce some of these risk factors; therefore, increased research on the

correlation between SES and education is essential. It also connected to the mathematics

performance because the subject is academics, therefore economic status might also affect the

performance of the students in the current Research Locale of this study.

Teaching Strategy

Students must be able to communicate their reasoning, the flexibility of thinking that will

allow them to tackle new areas of mathematics and be willing to continue in doing mathematics.

However findings by Iheanachor (2017), indicate that, there is a significant positive relationship

between students’ academic achievement in mathematics and teachers’ background. Teachers’

who have good qualifications in mathematics have their students performing better in

mathematics. Teachers plays a vital role for students to easily understand the concepts in

mathematics that is why teaching strategy is a major factor in their mathematics performance

especially in this study.

Saif (2016) considered peer teaching as a mutual learning process in which students

teach others the desired skills and knowledge with full coordination with their teacher in case

there are any comments or questions. However, the teacher should be around always to solve

immediately any problems may arise between students. The study is connected to the
mathematics performance since mathematics is a subject that needs an extra effort for the

teacher to deliver his/her lessons.

In this time of COVID-19 pandemic, Philippine higher education institutions also

implemented emergency online learning programs (Murphy, 2020). The emergency

implementation may caught students unprepared. Major barriers of Filipino medical students to

adopt online learning. These barriers can be classified as technological (lack of devices, issues

with the online platform, Internet connectivity), individual (students’ learning style, physical and

mental health), domestic (concerns at home, financial distress), institutional (school curriculum),

and community barriers (lockdown restrictions, infrastructure challenges, and sociopolitical

issues). Students found it difficult to understand the learning materials on their own. It was also

reported that students had difficulty studying at home because of noise, distractions, and small

space. Personal physical learning space refers to the space dedicated to online learning that is

free from distraction or noise (Baticulon et al., 2021). This also a teaching strategy during the

pandemic and it gives a lot of struggles for students understanding the lessons especially in

mathematics.

Motivation

According to Michaelides (2019) students’ motivations and attitudes influence their

learning of and performance on assessments of school subjects, including mathematics.

Relevant theories (e.g., self-determination, expectancy-value, self-efficacy, self-concept, and

achievement goal theory) capture key motivational factors that are important to learning and

achievement. The theories and related empirical studies that show how motivation factors relate

to performance are comprehensively reviewed in this chapter. Generally, students who

demonstrate greater self-efficacy and interest in mathematics, and those who value the subject
more highly achieve better outcomes, although the relationships may often be modest.

Correlational and experimental evidence for the association of motivation with achievement is

presented with reference to longitudinal and cross-cultural comparisons, as well as to findings

from international large-scale assessments, such as IEA’s Trends in International Mathematics

and Science Study (TIMSS). Motivation is another factor in this study.

Several studies have demonstrated that motivation and attitude towards mathematics

are directly and significantly associated with students’ performance. For instance, Mensah and

Kurancie (2013) conducted a study in Ghana and found a significant positive correlation

between students’ motivation and attitude to their performance. This means that it is possible

that the students in the research locale of the study is affected too by their personal motivations.

Motivation is a fundamental recipe for academic success. It involves internal and

external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and

committed to job, role, or subject, or to make an effort to attain a goal. Argued that motivation

explains why people decide to do something, how hard they are going to pursue it, and how

long they are willing to sustain the activity. In order words, “motivation is what gets you going,

keeps you going, and determines where you’re trying to go” indicates that those students who

have optimum motivation have an edge because they have adaptive attitudes and strategies,

such as maintaining intrinsic interest, goal setting, and self-monitoring but not for those who

lacks from motivation. Besides, motivational variables interact with cognitive, behavioral, and

contextual factors to upset self-regulation Gbollie (2017). This also connected to mathematics

performance since it is a part of academic performance and is one of the major subjects.

It was clear with the aforementioned related literature and studies that the performance

of the students in mathematics can either be high or low. It is because of different factors that

the students encounter specifically the students study habits, economic status, teaching
strategy, and students’ motivation. It was stressed out that these factors critically affect the

mathematics performance of the students most especially on the negative side and needs to be

acknowledge by everyone who is connected with this study. This thought was supported by

various researches on the factors mathematics performance of the students internationally and

locally.