The relationships between basic mathematics fluency, achievement and attitude among year 6 students

Abstract

Despite various efforts by the school and teachers to improve mathematics achievement, student math scores remain unimpressive. In exploring the possible reasons behind it, this study examined the role that basic math fact fluency/automaticity plays in mathematics success, which is defined as the ability to recall facts with speed and accuracy at an unconscious level. Information processing theory argues that automaticity frees up cognitive resources for more complex processes and should therefore be an important part of learning mathematics. This research investigated the basic mathematic fact fluency/automaticity of a group of primary school students in one rural school in Malaysia. Other objectives of the study were to assess the level of basic math fluency and to examine the relationship between their level of basic fact fluency/automaticity to their mathematics achievement, and attitude towards mathematics. To fulfil the goal of this study, a timed math test was administered to a sample of Year Six students (n=104) from a rural primary school in Bera, Pahang. These same students also completed a short survey assessing their attitudes toward mathematics. The students’ basic math fluency as demonstrated on the mathematics tests correlated strongly to their reported math attitudes and achievements. Basic math fluency was found to be statistically significant predictor of mathematics achievement. The ordinal regression analysis was used to identify the relationship between the attitude variables. The findings show a strong correlation between basic math fluency and the different elements of attitude towards mathematics enjoyment and confidence. Enjoyment and confidence was also found to be significant predictors of basic math fluency. The findings of this study could benefit teachers and administrations in planning and designing trainings to improve pupils’ basic mathematics fluency and hence their performance.