Beliefs of secondary students of Coelemu, Chile, and its rural areas, about mathematics and problem solving

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the beliefs of secondary students from Domingo Ortiz de Rozas High School of Coelemu, Chile and its rural areas regarding the subject of mathematics and problem solving due to the teaching and learning process. The research was developed under a quantitative approach of quasi-experimental descriptive design survey type (n=156). As a basis was used the closed survey of Barrantes (2008), adapted based on the feedback provided by expert judgment. The results show statistically significant differences related to origin and academic performance in their beliefs about mathematics and problem solving when considering the usefulness of the contents in the learning process and how this subject allows the development of skills. According to gender, it was observed differences in their beliefs about mathematics, however related to problem solving, no statistically significant differences were found. It was concluded that the learning experiences about mathematics and problem solving from rural sector students are related to the development of adverse attitudes towards the subject, since they do not find use and purpose of its applications in their everyday life.