Empirical Study on Attitude towards Making Decision to Select Mathematics for First-Degree Program

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mabel

The study examines factors shaping undergraduates’ attitudes toward selecting mathematics units for first-degree programs in Sri Lanka’s humanities and social sciences. A sample of 352 students was drawn using structured questionnaires and stratified random sampling at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. A binary logistic regression model identifies self-efficacy, mathematical anxiety, and interest in mathematics as significant predictors of students’ attitudes. Results show higher self-efficacy increases selection likelihood, while greater anxiety reduces it, and stronger interest increases it.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

INTRODUCTION

Literature Review

Anatolian Journal ofEducation e-ISSN: 2547-9652 October 2024 ● Vol.9, No.2 [www.e-aje.net](www.e-aje.net)[ ](www.e-aje.net)pp. 171-180 Empirical Study on Attitude towards Making Decision to Select Mathematics for FirstDegree Program T. S. N. D. Kumarage Department of Social Statistics, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, [tsndkumarage96@gmail.com](tsndkumarage96@gmail.com) H. P. T. N. Silva Department of Social Statistics, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, [thanuja@sjp.ac.lk](thanuja@sjp.ac.lk) Recently debatable arguments have existed regarding the perceived lack of numerical skills among the graduates from the Humanities and Social Sciences. In response to this concern, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculties of Art in national universities in Sri Lanka have taken measures to more opportunities to undergraduates to bolster their numerical proficiency. This is achieved through the incorporation of mathematics course units for their degree programs along with the main subject streams. The study focuses on factors that affect the undergraduates’ attitudes towards making the decision to select the subject mathematics for their first-degree program. A sample survey was carried out using structured questionnaire and stratified random sampling technique was utilized to select a sample size of 352 from the undergraduates belongs to Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in University of Sri Jayewardenepura. The binary logistic regression model is utilized, and the study revealed that self efficacy, mathematical anxiety, and interest in mathematics are significantly affected students’ attitudes on counting mathematics course units for their degree program. The student who has self-efficacy is 1.03 times more likely to select mathematics course unit at the first academic year than other students. A unit increase of mathematics anxiety with all other factors remaining constant, the odds of a student selecting the mathematics course decreased by 11.2% . When one-unit increases in the interest in mathematics of students the odds of selecting mathematics course unit is 1.06 times more likely to than other peers. These insights suggest that educational institutes, particularly those in the humanities and social sciences, should prioritize enhancing students ‘numerical skills. This can be achieved by providing valuable consideration aimed at refining their curriculum and support mechanism, increasing awareness programmes about the importance of studying mathematics course units within their degree programmes and conducting programmes to reduce mathematics anxiety while fostering an increased interest in mathematics. Keywords: anxiety, binary logistic regression, mathematics, odds ratio, undergraduate INTRODUCTION The educational landscape in Sri Lanka mandates that students must undertake the General Certificate of Education (G.C.E) Ordinary Level (O/L) Examination upon completion of 11 years of schooling. Mathematics is a compulsory subject they must pass to qualify the G.C.E. (A/L) Examination. Subsequently, students are required to sit for the G.C.E. Advanced Level (A/L) Examination to gain admission to the national universities in Sri Lanka. Typically, students in the Art stream do not engage Citation: Kumarage, T. S. N. D., & Silva, H. P. T. N. (2024) . Empirical study on attitude towards making decision to select mathematics for first-degree program. Anatolian Journal of Education, 9(2), 171-180. [https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2024.9214a](https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2024.9214a) 172 Empirical Study on Attitude towards Making Decision to … in numerical course works until they enrol in the university system. Consequently, their numerical skills may decline over the time span of approximately three years. A graduate with proficient numerical skills contributes directly or indirectly to the betterment of society as whole. Many graduates from the faculty of Humanities a

FAQs

What factors significantly influence undergraduates’ attitudes toward selecting mathematics course units?

The study finds that self-efficacy, mathematical anxiety, and interest in mathematics significantly affect students’ attitudes.

How was the sample selected and what model was used?

A sample survey with a structured questionnaire used stratified random sampling to select 352 undergraduates, and the analysis used a binary logistic regression model.

What is the relationship between mathematical anxiety and the likelihood of selecting mathematics course units?

As mathematics anxiety increases by one unit, the odds of selecting mathematics course units decrease by 11.2%, holding other factors constant.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mabel