The relationship between self-regulated learning and mathematics attitude towards college students development of mathematical thinking

Abstract

College students, especially those majoring in STEM related fields do take fairly large numbers of mathematical courses as part of their tertiary requirement and do indeed construct a variety of numerous algorithms in order to continue to achieve good results in their examination transcripts. However, what is the quality of this mathematical knowledge in relation to their mathematical thinking development? Secondly, does self-regulated learning (SRL) and the attitude formed towards math learning bear a significant correlation to the achievement of students’ in mathematics. Based on these questions, a total of one hundred and sixty-four randomly selected final year undergraduates majoring in Science field were involved in this descriptive-correlational design study. The research findings depict that solving some of the most fundamental and basic math problems served as an obstacle to the college students. Students seem to rely a great deal on the numerical computation aspect, notwithstanding that this confers an adverse effect upon their abilities to think and perform problem solving operations. The findings also portray an absence of a significant relationship between the student’s self-regulated learning and the attitude towards mathematical thinking attainment. This showcases that whilst students are perceived to have the ability to direct their learning process and do have fun in the math classroom, this has not translated into their cognitive processes in developing their mathematical thinking.