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Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 8 (2010) 465–475

International Conference on Mathematics Education Research 2010 (ICMER 2010)

Mathematics-related Beliefs of Filipino College Students:


Factors Affecting Mathematics and Problem Solving
Performance
Peter Giovanni Araña Sangcap*
Centre for Educational Research and Development, University of Santo Tomas, Philippines

Abstract

The main purpose of the study reported in this paper was to determine Filipino college students’ (n=336) positive and negative
beliefs about mathematics and mathematical problem solving by administering the 36-item (six scales) self-report questionnaire
through stratified random sampling. The study was also aimed at analysing possible significant differences in mathematics-
related beliefs related to gender, year level, and field of specialization. Using correlations, t tests and multiple analysis of
variance, results showed positive beliefs that Filipino students valued effort in increasing one’s mathematical ability and
considered mathematics as useful in their daily lives. On the contrary, Filipino students believed that all word problems can be
solved by simple step by step procedure and word problems are not important. Statistical tests revealed that gender difference in
positive beliefs that effort can increase mathematical ability and in the usefulness of mathematics is significant. This gender
difference in the beliefs mentioned reflected also in all year levels and in various field of specializations.
© 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.

Keywords: Mathematics- related beliefs; Problem solving performance; Mathematics education; Filipino college students

1. Introduction

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 1995 and recently, Trends in Mathematics and
Science Study (TIMSS) and International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) 2003
data revealed the alarming facts for the participating countries most especially the Philippines. The recent TIMMS
2003 data showed that Filipino students’ poor mathematical performance has placed the country in the 36th rank out
of 38 nations worldwide.

The declining popularity of mathematics among students and poor mathematical performance of students (Mayer,
Tajika, & Stanley, 1991) are not only a national but also a global concern for the past years (PISA, 2003). Previous
studies (Mtetwa & Garofalo, 1989; Frank, 1990; Ernest, 1996; Sam, 1999) cited that negative beliefs about
mathematics and mathematical problem solving are widespread among the public even in some developed countries.
In the report, "Learning Mathematics & Science: The Second International Assessment of Educational Progress"

* Peter Giovanni Araña Sangcap. Tel.:+63-927-1243; fax:+63-02-406-1611 loc 8392.


E-mail address: gio_ust@yahoo.com.

1877-0428 © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.12.064
466 Peter Giovanni Araña Sangcap / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 8 (2010) 465–475

(Foxman, 1992), which involved 20 countries in examining the attainment of 9 and 13 year olds showed that
students from England and Wales and the U.S.A. performed poorly in mathematics. Recently, the Organization for
Economic and Co-operation Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003
data of student knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds showed countries namely; Greece, Italy, Luxemburg, Mexico,
Norway, Poland, Portugal, The Slovak Republic, Spain, Turkey and the United States, as well as the partner
countries Brazil, Indonesia, Latvia, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay performed below
the OECD average in problem solving proficiency. For more than two decades, mathematical problem solving has
been the focus of school mathematics. Hence, problem solving plays a vital role in the study of mathematics making
it “not only a goal of learning mathematics but also the means in doing so…Problem solving is an integral part of all
mathematics learning…Good problem will integrate multiple topics and will involve significant mathematics”
(NCTM 2000, Principle and Standard:52).

The role of beliefs, as well as the role of knowledge, in cognitive processes has been recognized in the past years
(Schoendfeld, 1985, 1989). In particular, students’ general beliefs about the nature and acquisition of knowledge,
such as epistemological beliefs (Kardash & Sinatra, 2003; Roberts, Busk, & Comerford, 2001; Davis, 1997), have
been investigated regarding their influence on text comprehension and meta-comprehension( Mori, 1997; Kardash &
Scholes, 1997; Kardash & Howell, 2000; Schommer, 1990), problem solving ( Schommer, Duell, & Hutter, 2005;
Op’t, De Corte & Verschaffel, 2003; Schraw, Dunkle,& Bendixen, 1995), and conceptual change (Mason, 2000;
Qian,1995; Qian & Alvermann, 1995; Windschitl & Andre, 1998; Windschitl, 1998). Furthermore, students’ beliefs
have been investigated not only as general convictions, but also as convictions about knowing and learning in
specific domains, including mathematics (Carmichael & Taylor, 2005; Mason & Scrivani, 2004; De Corte & Op’t
Eynde, 2003, Mason, 2003; Schullo & Alperson, 1998).

Students’ beliefs and attitudes towards mathematics teaching and learning play an important role in mathematics
education (McLeod, 1989). The learning outcomes of students are strongly related to their beliefs and attitudes
towards mathematics (Andreassen, 2005; Furinghetti & Pehkonen, 2000; Leder, Pehkonen, & Törner, 2002;
Pehkonen, 2003; Schoenfeld, 1992; Thompson, 1992) . Previous studies (Pekhonen, 2003, Mason, 2003
Kloosterman & Stage, 1992) mentioned the existence of a system of beliefs that affects students’ behaviour which
impede rather than facilitate understanding when students solve mathematical problems. It was observed that
students’ common view of mathematics is in terms of certainty, and fast and correct answer that become true when
accepted by the authority of a teacher (Lampert, 1990) and believe that all word problems can be solved, even
absurd problems and tend not to ask themselves whether a given problem can be solved (Reusser, 1988). Moreover,
it has been intensively demonstrated (Van Dooren, De Bock, Hessels, Janssens, & Verschaffel, 2004; Verschaffel,
De Corte & Vierstraete, 1999; De Corte & Verschaffel, 1989; De Corte, Verschaffel, & Op’t Eynde, 2000;
Verschaffel, De Corte & Lasure, 1994, 1999; Verschaffel, Greer, & De Corte, 2000) that upper primary school
students consider the choice of the operation to be computed as important and do not refer to their common sense
knowledge or the realistic context of a given problem.

Studies on students’ beliefs about the discipline of mathematics, beliefs about themselves as learners have also been
clearly underlined in recent years (Leder & Forgasz, 2006; Schuck & Grootenboer, 2004). Significantly, students’
beliefs in their ability to solve time consuming mathematics problems, the importance of increasing their
mathematics ability and usefulness of mathematics in everyday life, were all assumed to be related to the motivation
to learn to solve mathematical problems (Mason, 2003; Kloosterman, 1988; Malmivouri & Pehkonen, 1997).

In this regard, the researcher determined and analyzed the Filipino students’ beliefs, which could be one of the
factors affecting their mathematical performance through investigating mathematics-related beliefs (Mason, 2003;
Kloosterman, 1988; Malmivouri & Pehkonen, 1997) such as students’ beliefs on mathematics and problem solving.
Specifically, the study focused on the following belief scales: students’ belief in their ability to solve time
consuming mathematics problems (Difficult Problem), belief that there are word problems that cannot be solved
using simple step by step procedures (Steps), belief in the importance of word problems (Word Problem), belief that
understanding concepts is important in mathematics (Understanding), belief in the importance of effort in increasing
Peter Giovanni Araña Sangcap / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 8 (2010) 465–475 467

their mathematics ability (Effort) and belief in usefulness of mathematics in everyday life were conducted
(Usefulness).

This present study was designed to address the following research questions;
1. What positive and negative beliefs do the respondents hold about mathematics and mathematical problem
solving using the mentioned belief scales?
2. Are there differences in students’ beliefs about mathematics and mathematical problem solving related to
gender, year level and field of specialization?
2. Methodology

Three hundred thirty six (336) students from a comprehensive university in the capital city of Manila, Philippines
were randomly selected in the study. One hundred two (102) males and two hundred thirty four (234) females from
across the four year levels (first year: 96 students; second year: 84 students; third year: 77 students and fourth year:
77 students) of different field of specializations (BSHRM: 97 students; BSFT: 39 students; BSND: 39 students; BS
Tourism: 99 students and BS Education: 60 students) participated through stratified random sampling method. All
students were Filipino, enrolled in the First Semester of school year 2005, have taken at least 3 units of mathematics
course (Algebra), age ranges from 16 to 19 years, and shared a homogeneous middle class social background.

The researcher adopted a validated instrument to measure students’ beliefs. The instrument, called the Indiana
Mathematics Beliefs Scales (Kloosterman & Stage, 1992), included were the following five belief scales on difficult
problems, steps, understanding, word problems and effort. The instrument has been conceived within the context of
mathematics teaching and learning in United States of America. Another important scale was taken from Fennema-
Sherman Usefulness of Mathematics Scale (Fennema Sherman, 1976 and Kloosterman, 1988).

The questionnaire was composed of 36 items with 30 items were taken from Indiana Mathematics Beliefs Scale and
6 items were taken from Fennema- Sherman Usefulness Scale. There were a total of 6 scales with 6 items each of 3
positive and 3 negative valences. All question items were randomly distributed with some items carefully
reconstructed, tested and validated. The instrument was administered to all 336 Filipino college students to measure
their beliefs about mathematical problem solving.

The first research question, pertaining to the students’ bipolar beliefs about mathematics and mathematical problem
solving, was addressed by administering the Kloosterman and Stage’s (1992) & Fennema-Sherman Usefulness of
Mathematics Scale questionnaire to a group of students. The mean, standard deviation and reliability using
Cronbach’s alpha of the six scales mentioned was computed. Analysis of inter-correlation of six scales, analysis of
variance among belief scales and between belief scales were also computed. Subsequently, the second research
question, in relation to the differences in students’ beliefs about mathematics and mathematical problem solving
related to gender, year level and field of specialization, was addressed using moment product correlation and
between scale t test, a multiple analysis of variance using 4 (year level: first to fourth) x 2 (gender) x 4
(specialization) as subject variables and score in the six scales of the questionnaire as dependent variable.

The sample size of students was determined using the Slovin’s Formula with two percent (2%) margin of error. A
stratified random sampling was adapted for different year levels and fields of specialization. Students were asked to
rate the degree of their agreement with each item of the questionnaire on the scale ranging from strongly disagree
(1) to strongly agree (4). They were assured that they need not to be afraid of how they responded to the
questionnaire as it would not be evaluated as a school task, since the aim of the questionnaire was only to
understand students’ ideas about mathematics and mathematical problem solving. They completed the questionnaire
in the classroom in 15-20 minutes. Data were tabulated and statistical tests were conducted.
468 Peter Giovanni Araña Sangcap / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 8 (2010) 465–475

3. Findings

The findings of this study were mainly based on the quantitative data gathered from the respondents using a
developed set of questionnaires. Descriptive statistics procedures were adhered to in reporting the findings. The
results are presented as follows:

3.1 What are positive and negative beliefs do the respondents hold about mathematics and mathematical
problem solving using the mentioned belief scales?

In central to the beliefs of Filipino students about mathematics and mathematical problem solving, the mean and
standard deviation of each scale were computed as reported in Table 1 while inter correlation and F test between
scales were tabulated in Table 2 . As reflected on Table 1, belief that one’s effort can increase mathematical ability
was the highest ( x = 10.08) followed by belief in the usefulness of mathematics ( x = 9.97). On the contrary, belief
that not all word problems can be solved with simple, step-by-step procedure and belief that word problems are
important in mathematics were the lowest with x = 8.55 and x = 7.34, respectively. Reliability analyses for the
six scales of the questionnaire were computed using Cronbach’s alpha. After examining the reliability coefficients of
the six scales, it can be said that all scales are reliable and as indicated by the high reliability indices (as reflected on
those reported by Kloosterman and Stage (1992) and Mason (2003) based on the sample involved in the instrument
validation procedure). Thus, students’ score in all six scales were considered in subsequent analysis. There were
statistically significant inter correlations between several scales as shown in Table 2. The higher correlation was
between belief that not all word problems can be solved by simple step by step procedures and belief that effort can
increase mathematical ability (r = 0.90) and between belief that not all word problems can be solved by simple step
by step procedures and belief in the usefulness of mathematics (r = 0.88). Analysis of variance among six belief
scales was significant [F (9, 30) =13.21, P<.01]. Furthermore, there were significant differences between the
following scales; belief in the ability to solve time consuming mathematics problems and belief that effort can
increase mathematical ability [F (1, 10) =35.45, P<.01], belief in the ability to solve time consuming mathematics
problems and belief in the usefulness of mathematics [F (1, 10) = 20.51, P<.01], belief that not all word problems
can be solved by simple step by step procedures and belief in the importance of understanding concepts in
mathematics [F (1, 10) =15.40, P<.01] , belief that not all word problems can be solved by simple step by step
procedures and belief that effort can increase mathematical ability [F (1, 10) = 59.03, P<.01], belief that not all
word problems can be solved by simple step by step procedures and belief in the usefulness of mathematics [F (1,
10) = 40.69, P<.01], belief in the importance of understanding concepts in mathematics and belief that effort can
increase mathematical ability [F (1, 10) = 9.06, P<.05], belief that word problems are important in mathematics and
belief that effort can increase mathematical ability [F (1, 10) = 22.13, P<.01], belief that word problems are
important in mathematics and belief in the usefulness of mathematics [F (1, 10) = 13.77, P<.01] and belief that
effort can increase mathematical ability and belief the usefulness of mathematics [F (1, 10) = 8.03, P<.05].
Table 1. Means, standard deviations and reliabilities
Scale M SD Cronbach’s alpha
1. Difficult problems4 15.78 4.62 0.83
2. Steps6 13.90 4.41 0.85
3. Understanding 3 17.91 4.29 0.85
4. Word Problems 5 15.35 4.28 0.86
5. Effort1 20.07 3.80 0.89
6. Usefulness2 19.12 4.33 0.85
Peter Giovanni Araña Sangcap / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 8 (2010) 465–475 469

Table 2. Interscale correlations and t-tests between scales

Scale Steps Understanding Word Problems Effort Usefulness


1. Difficult Problems -.78 -.10 .32 -.88 -.79
2. Steps ** 0.23* -.39 .88* .90*
3. Understanding -.10 ** 0.37 -.16 .36
4. Word Problems -.39 0.37 ** -.71 -.27
5. Effort -.88 -.16 -.71 ** 0.73**
*p< 0.01
**p< 0.05

3.1 Are there differences in students’ beliefs about mathematics and mathematical problem solving related to
gender, year level and field of specialization?

Regarding significant differences between and within six belief scales regarding gender, year level and field of
specialization, means and standard deviations for both gender, all levels from first to fourth year and different
specialization were computed, inter correlations, F tests and t test were also considered as reflected in Table 3, Table
4, and Table 5 . Means for the belief that effort can increase one’s mathematical ability were the highest ( x =
19.72 and x = 20.23 for male and female respectively) while belief that not all word problems can be solved by
step by step simple procedure were the lowest ( x = 14.19 and x = 13.78 for male and female respectively)
among belief scales for both gender. Correlation values for belief in the ability to solve time consuming mathematics
problems (r = .91) [t (4) = 4.47, P<.01], belief that not all word problems can be solved by simple step by step
procedures (r = .91) [t (4) = 7.69, P<.01], belief in the importance of understanding concepts in mathematics (r =
.98) [t (4) = 10.03, P<.01] and word problems are important in mathematics (r = 1.00) [t (4) = 20.49, P<.01] were all
highly significant while belief that effort can increase mathematical ability (r = .69) [t (4) = 1.89, P>.01] and belief
in the usefulness of mathematics ( r = .58) [t (4) = 1.43, P>.01] were both not significant. Analysis of variance using
2 (gender) as subject variable and score in the six scales of the questionnaire as dependent variable showed that for
scale main effect [F (1, 60) = 127.87, P<.01] and gender scale interaction [F (5, 60) = -16.98, P<.01] were both
significant, while gender main effect was not significant [F (5, 60) = 0, P>.01].

Table 3. Relationship of beliefs in mathematics & mathematical problem solving according to gender

Difficult Understandin Word


Steps Effort Usefulness
Gender Problems g Problems
M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD
16.04 14.19 17.85 15.08 19.72 18.81
Male:(n=102) 4 4.91 6 4.88 3 4.67 5 4.45 1 4.16 2 4.68
15.66 13.78 17.93 15.47 20.23 19.26
Female:(n=234) 4 4.47 6 4.17 3 4.12 5 4.20 1 3.61 2 4.10
r-value .91* .91* .98* 1.00* .69 .58
*p< 0.01 **p< 0.05

Furthermore, means for the belief that effort can increase one’s mathematical ability were the highest ( x = 20.31,
x = 20.25, x = 19.08 and x = 20.24 for first year, second year, third year and fourth year respectively) while
belief that not all word problems can be solved by step by step simple procedure were the lowest ( x = 13.06, x =
14.38, x = 14.54 and x = 13.71 for first year, second year, third year and fourth year respectively) among belief
scales for all year levels. Inter-scale correlations among year levels for each belief scale were all significant except
for the belief in the usefulness of mathematics [t12 (4) = -.31, P>.01, t13 (4) = 1.67, P>.01, t14 (4) = 2.06, P>.01, t23
(4) = -.35, P>.01, t24 (4) = .48, P>.01, t34 (4) = 1.73, P>.01]. Analysis of variance using a 4 (year level: first to
fourth) as subject variables and score in the six scales of the questionnaire as dependent variable showed that for
470 Peter Giovanni Araña Sangcap / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 8 (2010) 465–475

scale main effect [F (5, 120) = 68.22, P<.01] and year level scale interaction [F (15, 120) = -6.96, P<.01] were both
significant, while year level main effect was not significant [F (3, 120) = 0.67, P>.01].

Table 4. Relationship of beliefs in mathematics & mathematical problem solving according to year level

Difficult Word
Steps Understanding Effort Usefulness
Year Level Problems Problems
M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD
15.7 13.0 20.3 19.7
First Year (n=96) 4.60 4.11 18.10 4.08 15.26 4.00 3.40 3.81
8 6 1 7
Second Year 15.0 14.3 20.2 18.5
4.57 4.52 17.71 4.33 15.08 4.26 3.62 4.53
(n=84) 9 8 5 2
15.6 14.5 19.0 18.3
Third Year (n=77) 4.75 4.24 17.08 4.52 15.43 4.28 4.11 4.25
7 4 8 0
Fourth Year 15.9 13.7 20.2 19.4
4.39 4.18 18.45 3.98 15.57 4.44 3.73 4.18
(n=79) 1 1 4 0

Table 5. Relationship of beliefs in mathematics & mathematical problem solving according to field of specialization

Difficult Word
Steps Understanding Effort Usefulness
Field of Specialization Problems Problems
M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD
Hotel & Restaurant Management
15.45 4.87 14.11 4.32 18.03 4.32 15.19 4.21 19.71 3.82 19.48 4.29
(n=99)
Food Technology (n=39) 15.58 4.66 13.80 4.35 17.89 4.08 15.33 4.25 20.38 3.56 19.51 4.12
Nutrition & Dietetics (n=39) 15.40 4.31 13.16 4.36 18.07 4.15 15.35 4.31 20.59 3.52 19.83 3.80
Tourism (n=89) 15.82 4.29 13.66 3.87 17.82 4.03 15.36 4.18 19.83 3.68 18.68 3.79
Education(n=60) 16.61 4.61 14.49 5.06 17.78 4.75 15.61 4.48 20.56 4.12 18.56 5.13

Similarly, means for the belief that effort can increase one’s mathematical ability were the highest ( x = 19.71, x
= 20.38, x = 20.59 , x = 19.83 and x = 20.56 for HRM, FT, ND, Tourism and Education respectively) while
belief that not all word problems can be solved by step by step simple procedure were the lowest ( x = 14.11, x =
13.80, x = 13.16, x = 13.66 and x = 14.49 for HRM, FT, ND, Tourism and Education respectively) among
belief scales for all fields of specialization. Inter-scale correlations among fields of specialization for each belief
scale were all significant except for Education for the belief in ability to solve time consuming mathematics
problems [tedu-hrm (4) = 1.34, P>.01, tedu-ft (4) = .98, P>.01, tedu-nd (4) = .69, P>.01, tedu-tour (4) = .98, P>.01] , belief that
not all word problems can be solved by step by step simple procedure [ tedu-nd (4) = 1.89, P>.01] and belief in the
usefulness of mathematics [tedu-hrm (4) = .16, P>.01, tedu-ft (4) = .57, P>.01, tedu-nd (4) = .48, P>.01, tedu-tour (4) = .25,
P>.01, thrm-nd (4) = 1.53, P>.01 ]. A mildly negative correlation between field of specialization was computed in
belief in the usefulness of mathematics [r= -0.31, tedu-nd (4) = -6.2, P<.01]. Furthermore, analysis of variance using
a 5 (field of specialization: HRM, FT, ND, Tourism and Education) as subject variables and score in the six scales
of the questionnaire as dependent variable showed that for scale main effect [F (5, 150) = 69.17, P<.01] and field of
specialization scale interaction [F (20, 150) = -2.54, P<.01] were both significant, while field of specialization main
effect was not significant [F (4, 150) = 0.25, P>.01].

Findings for the first research question, concerning on the positive and negative beliefs about mathematics and
mathematical problem solving, revealed that Filipino college students believe that effort can increase one’s
mathematical ability and mathematics is useful. On the contrary, an alarming result indicated by low means on the
belief that not all word problems can be solved with simple, step-by-step procedure and belief that word problems
are important in mathematics . Furthermore, statistical tests revealed that there are significant difference on the
effort-word problems, effort-steps, usefulness-word problems and usefulness-steps. Students believe that effort can
increase mathematical ability and favourably agreed on the usefulness of mathematics in their daily lives. In
contrast, students do not believe that word problems are important in mathematics and tend to believe that all
Peter Giovanni Araña Sangcap / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 8 (2010) 465–475 471

problems can be solved using simple procedure. Surprisingly, findings on effort also concurs with that of previous
study (Huang & Waxman, 1997) that Eastern families tent to value effort, perseverance and hard work as
contributing factors for success in mathematics. On the other hand, the relatively low means for beliefs that not all
word problems can be solved using a simple step by step procedure and word problems are not important are
discomforting results. Logically, for most computational procedures, there are always rules to follow, but it is
equally important that students understand why the rules they follow actually work. With one step word problems of
type commonly found in elementary and middle school mathematics text books, students are often taught to look for
“key words” to help reduce a problem to applying a rule. For non-routine word problems, however, following rules
is often not possible. Previous studies cited that one criterion for a true mathematical problem is that, “The person
has no readily available procedure for finding the solution”, (Charles & Lester, 1982). In other words, a good
problem solver must be motivated to solve problems for which there are no memorized rules to follow. Thus,
students who believe that all mathematical problems can be solved by applying rules will easily give up or worst;
apply an inappropriate rule when no appropriate rule can be found. The National Research Council (1989) report
warned that increase emphasis on computational and back to the basics is not the answer to the problems in
mathematical instruction. Significantly, students who believe that computational skill is the key to mathematics
learning will have less motivation to be good problem solver than students who feel that solving word problems is
important because problem solving skills are more important than computational skills in most college level
mathematics courses.

Findings for the second research question, in central to possible significant difference between and within six belief
scales on gender, year level and field of specialization and revealed a highly significant correlation among several
belief scales with the exception to the belief that effort can increase mathematical ability and belief in the useful of
mathematics. Surprisingly, statistical tests showed that Filipino female students of different year levels and of
different field of specializations value more students’ effort as vital component in increasing mathematical ability.
Similarly, results also revealed that Filipino female students value more the usefulness of mathematics in their daily
lives. With reference to gender differences, PISA 2003 reported that few of its 40 member countries showed
statistically significant gender differences in problem solving. In Iceland, Norway and Sweden, as well as in the
partner countries Indonesia and Thailand, female students outperformed male students in problems solving. The
partner country Macao-China is the only country where male students outperformed female students in problem
solving. Surprisingly, performance in problem solving is closely related to performance in mathematics (PISA
2003), the comparison of gender differences in these two assessment areas becomes particularly interesting since
male students outperformed female students in mathematics in most participating countries, there are no pronounced
gender differences in problem solving performance. Thus, male students’ advantage in mathematics does not
translate into stronger problem solving skills. Recent study (De Corte & Op’t Enyde, 2003) cited that girls in
Flemish junior high schools certainly to do better than boys. Although relationship between gender and beliefs is
rather a complex one, students’ mathematics-related beliefs systems are interconnected very strongly with the
educational track in which they take their mathematics courses, it is also interconnected with gender and the way the
teacher evaluate their achievement level. Clearly girls did not have more positive beliefs than boys in every track,
since in humanities; boys had significantly more positive beliefs than girls.

Furthermore, it should be noted in the findings that both gender are significantly related in all beliefs scales except
for beliefs in effort and usefulness of mathematics. Equally important is the result that this significant difference on
the mentioned belief scales such as effort and usefulness in gender is also apparent in all year levels and in every
field of specializations. Thus, these findings in accord with the previous study conducted (De Corte & Op’t Enyde,
2003) that those mathematics-related belief systems are interconnected very strongly with the educational track and
with gender. The field of specializations included in the study namely; HRM, FT, ND, Tourism and Education are
known as female-dominated specializations. Moreover, it should be taken into account that both gender in all year
levels and in different field of specializations have relatively low means on the following beliefs; belief that there
are word problems that cannot be solved using simple step by step procedures, belief in the importance of word
problems and belief in their ability to solve time consuming mathematics problems are problem solving related
beliefs. Eastern families tent to value effort, perseverance and hard work as contributing factors for success in
mathematics, results on problem solving performances of some Eastern countries like Thailand and Indonesia (PISA
472 Peter Giovanni Araña Sangcap / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 8 (2010) 465–475

2003) are below average would indicate that belief scales such as effort and usefulness are not enough beliefs
indicators for success in mathematics. Thus, for a student to be good both in mathematics and problem solving, it
requires a set of positive beliefs. The more students believe in their ability to solve difficult problems, no memorised
rules to follow, math’s usefulness and importance of understanding the procedure not only memorising the better
their mathematical performance (Mason,2003).

4. Conclusion

Results of the study on the beliefs revealed both the positive and negative mathematics-related beliefs of Filipino
students about mathematics and about mathematical problem solving. Positive beliefs such as effort can increase
one’s mathematical ability and mathematics is useful are among those reflected on the study conducted. On the
contrary, negative beliefs such as all problems can be solved by routine procedure and belief that word problems are
not important in mathematics were revealed.
Furthermore, belief that mathematics is useful is closely related to the belief that effort can increase one’s
mathematical ability and belief that word problems can be solved using a simple step by step procedure. Also, the
belief that effort can increase one’s mathematical ability is closely related that to the beliefs that word problems can
be solved using a simple step by step procedure. With these results, it can be concluded that positive beliefs such as
effort and value of the mathematics do not translate a positive beliefs that word problems are important and there are
word problems that cannot be solved by simple step by step procedures. Effort which is an important belief factor as
well as usefulness, possessed by Filipino students must be taken into advantage to change maladaptive problem
solving related beliefs.

The gender difference on the different year levels and on various field of specialization on effort and usefulness is
apparent on the study conducted favouring Filipino female students on mathematics-related beliefs such as effort
and usefulness of mathematics.

Finally, it is worthy to considered the based on the results how Filipino students valued mathematics and effort. The
researcher recommend, for future researches, to consider other possible mathematics-related beliefs and indicators.

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