Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

The chapter presents the literature and studies that have bearing on the present

research. It also includes the synthesis of the state-of-the-art, gap bridged by the study,

the theoretical and conceptual framework and its corresponding paradigm, and definition

of terms.

Related Literature

Perception is the primary form of cognitive awareness about the person, place,

thing, and event through the sensory organs around the person. All conceptual knowledge

is based on or derived from this primary form of awareness. Perception is the quality of

being aware, the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses,

the way in which something is regarded (Efron, 1969). It is the process of identification,

organization, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and

understand the environment. In this study, the term 'perception towards mathematics is

conceptualized as a mental representation or view of mathematics, apparently constructed

as a result of social experiences, mediated through interactions at school, or the influence

of parents, teachers, peers, or mass media.

Perception is automatically related to certain nature of human being, which his or

her psychological features. Perception is a process which starts from the sense of organ.

That is a process related to acceptance of information by human brain that is said that

during the process a person continually interacts with his or her environment (Slameto,

2010: 102). While Mulyana (2007: 179) stated that perception is internal process enable
us choose, organize, and interpret the stimuli from environment, those process can

influence our manner. Moreover, perception is the impression of a person to a particular

object which is influenced by internal factors, such as behavior under the control of

personal and external factors, such as behavior influenced by circumstances outside

(Depdiknas, 2003)

Students’ perceptions have behavioural consequences on the learning approaches

they adopt, which in turn influence their learning outcomes (Ferreira & Santoso, 2008).

Positive perceptions have been associated with deep learning approaches (Jackling 2005),

whereas negative perceptions are associated with the surface learning approach (Prosser

& Trigwell, 1999). The deep approach has resulted in higher academic performance and

the surface approach resulted in lower performance (Biggs, 1996). Negative perceptions

are likely to cause negative feelings towards learning that decline in motivation and

cognitive processing thus declining in the learner’s performance (Isen, 2004).

Students are the main and the most important resource in the teaching and

learning process. Students can learn from teachers, while teachers cannot teach without

students (Danim, 2010: 1). All of the learning process always begins with perception.

Students' perception is the process of preferential treatment of students toward

information they get from an object, in this study is teachers' classroom questions.

Through observations with their senses. students can interpret the observed object.

It is widely claimed that negative perceptions and myths of mathematics are

widespread among students, especially in the developed countries (Ernest, 1995;

Gadanidis, 2012). Sam (1999) claimed that many students are scared of mathematics and

feel powerless in the presence of mathematical ideas. They regard mathematics as

difficult, cold, abstract, and in many cultures, largely masculine (Ernest, 1995). The

relationship between perception toward mathematics and achievement in mathematics

had traditionally been a major concern in mathematics education research (Ma & Kishor,

1997). According to McLeod (1989), students’ perception of mathematics teaching and

learning plays an important role in mathematics education. The learning outcomes of

students are strongly related to their perceptions of mathematics (Leder et al., 2002;

Thompson, 1992).

In fact, the poor performance of students globally in mathematics is mostly linked

to perception than any other variable (Royster et al., 1999). It is not just a concern for

particular countries but has become a global concern over the years (Hagan, et al., 2020).

However, most of the students in Nepal are still found failing in mathematics at the

school level of education.

The ERO report (2019) shows that a large number of students is at the

underperforming level in school-level education especially in mathematics, and the

achievement of the students is also decreasing for some years. The ERO report (2017),

shows that the average score in grade VIII mathematics in the year 2017 was 49.2 while

the score in 2013 was 50.8. The report suggests that the reasons behind such

underperformance as well as a downfall in mathematics achievement demand a further

investigation to get the root of the fact. Thus it can be argued that the students'

perceptions may be one of the causes of the low achievement and there have not been any

studies focusing on the students' perceptions towards mathematics at the primary and

secondary school levels. In such a context, it is necessary to explore the condition of the

low-performing students- perception towards mathematics in the Nepalese context.

Therefore, the study was conducted to find out specifically the low-performing students'

perception towards mathematics and examine the effects of student’s perception on their

mathematics achievement.

Perception is one of the important psychological aspects because by perception

we know about the kinds of phenomenon which exist in our environment. People have

different perceptions on an object. It can be positive or negative ways.

It is important to understand students' perceptions of how they perceive teachers'

questions and answer questions in class. Those perceptions affect students' willingness to

participate actively in question-and-answer sessions (Cole. 1994: 184).

Related Studies

Daud, et. al (2020) study investigated students’ perceptions in learning

mathematics and how these perceptions may lead to problems in understanding the

mathematics itself among students in selected Malaysian secondary schools. A set of

questionnaire was distributed to 200 students in Kuantan, Pahang in order to gauge their

perceptions in learning mathematics. The researcher also assesses the relationship that

exists between students’ perceptions towards mathematics and their academic

achievement by using APOS Theory. The respondents generally reported a positive

perception towards mathematics. With regard to the correlation analysis, there was a

significant statistical relationship between students’ perceptions towards mathematics and

their UPSR mathematics grade. However, there was no significant difference between

students’ perception towards mathematics and recent mathematics grade. These results
warrant further researches using more advanced statistical tools in order to obtain more

accurate and relevant findings. Finally it is hoped that the study will open new paths that

can benefit mathematics in education system and how mathematics are perceived by

students in the classroom.

The ERO report (2019) shows that a large number of students is at the

underperforming level in school-level education especially in mathematics, and the

achievement of the students is also decreasing for some years. The ERO report (2017),

shows that the average score in grade VIII mathematics in the year 2017 was 49.2 while

the score in 2013 was 50.8. The report suggests that the reasons behind such

underperformance as well as a downfall in mathematics achievement demand a further

investigation to get the root of the fact. Thus it can be argued that the students'

perceptions may be one of the causes of the low achievement and there have not been any

studies focusing on the students' perceptions towards mathematics at the primary and

secondary school levels. In such a context, it is necessary to explore the condition of the

low-performing students- perception towards mathematics in the Nepalese context.

Therefore, the study was conducted to find out specifically the low-performing students'

perception towards mathematics and examine the effects of student’s perception on their

mathematics achievement.

Santillan, et. al (2016), the study entitled “Student Perception Toward

Mathematics Asssessment, Temporality Toward Exams, The Understanding Toward

Problems Associated To The Numbers and Mathematical operations In Real Life. Really

Are factors Generators Of Anxiety Toward Math?” , personally administered to 299

students from two high schools at Tuxtepec, Oaxaca in Mexico. Statistical procedure was
the factorial analysis with an extracted principal component in order to Measure data as

refer García-Santillán, Venegas-Martínez and Escalera-Chávez (2013). The Bartlett’s

Sphericity test and the KMO index (0.875), .2 calculated, 1257.558 with 10 df > .2

tabulated, Sig. 0.000 p< 0.01, MSA (ANSIEVAL .832; ANSITEM .871; ANSI-

COM .918; ANSINUM .863; ANSISIMA .914) allow us to know that the variables of

Muñoz and MatoVázquez scale, help us to understand the student’s anxiety toward

mathematics. It is necessary to find new ways of teaching and learning process that

allows, from the basic levels of education, to stimulate the interest of students toward

mathematics.

Shrestha, et. al (2019) study entitled “Perception of the learning environment

among the students in a nursing college in Eastern Nepal”, showed positive perception of

learning environment which varied significantly according to the year of enrollment.

However, improvements are required across all the five domains for the high-quality

educational environment. Future qualitative studies are recommended to confirm and to

have in-depth understanding of this finding.

Fidalgo, et. al (2020) study on Students’ perceptions on distance education: A

multinational study, concluded that in many universities offer Distance Education (DE)

courses and programs to address the diverse educational needs of students and to stay

current with advancing technology. Some Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) that do

not offer DE find it difficult to navigate through the steps that are needed to provide such

courses and programs. Investigating learners’ perceptions, attitudes and willingness to try

DE can provide guidance and recommendations for IHEs that are considering expanding

use of DE formats. A survey was distributed to undergraduate students in Portugal, UAE

and Ukraine. The results of this pilot study showed that in all three countries, students’

major concerns about such programs were time management, motivation, and English

language skills. Although students were somewhat apprehensive many indicated they

were interested in taking DE courses. Six recommendations informed by interpretation of

students’ responses and the literature, are offered to assist institutions who want to offer

DE as part of their educational strategy.

Synthesis of the State of the Art

The differences noted are the following: Daud, et. al (2020) focused on the

students in selected Malaysian secondary schools while the present study targeted the

selected grade 9 students. Santillan, et. al (2016) focused on The Understanding Toward

Problems Associated To The Numbers and Mathematical operations In Real Life while

the present study focused on the Understanding Towards Mathematics. Shrestha, et. al

(2019) focused on “Perception of the learning environment among the students in a

nursing college in Eastern Nepal” while the present study focused on the Perception of

Selected grade 9 Students Towards Mathematics of Divine Word College of Legazpi.

Gap bridged of the Study

Through readings and review of the related literature and studies, the researcher

noticed that the concepts have relevance to the present study to support the data.

However, none of these reached to study about the Perception of the Selected Grade 9

Students Towards Mathematics of Divine Word College of Legazpi 2022-2023.

Theoretical Framework

The current study will explore Bem’s (1972) perception theory to create an

understanding of how it can be reflected on in an educational context. Bem’s (1972) self-

perception theory is based on two claims. Firstly, the theory claims that people

understand their beliefs, attitudes and perceptions by understanding their own behaviour

and the circumstances behind it. Secondly, the theory states that if an individual doesn’t

have full understanding of his behaviour, he or she acts like an outsider who observes the

actions and conducts and tries to make a sense out of it and deduce their own inner

characteristics (International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 2008). Bem (1970,

p. 8) also asserts that individual’s “own behaviour will be used by him as a source of

evidence for his beliefs and attitudes”. The self-perception concept is based on the

assumption that people are what they do. In this sense, the relationship between self-

perception and behaviour is of paramount importance. Following this introduction are

sections that will highlight the theory in detail. Additionally, this study provides salient

examples of experiments and practical applications. Lastly, the researchers provide a

discussion of its use in educational contexts.

This theory, where the study will be anchored, will attempt to know the

perception of the Grade 9 students towards Mathematics of Divine Word College of

Legazpi 2022-2023.

Conceptual Framework
 The conceptual paradigm of the study will focus on the perception of the selected

grade 9 students toward Mathematics, academic preparations do by the selected grade 9

students to aim for higher Math and difficulties encountered by the students. These three

sections of this framework were based on studies about most students feeling negatively

as the certain subject grows more and more difficult. As based on some studies, students

are required to gain an understanding of the fundamental ideas of numbers and number

concepts, measurements, geometry, probability, data analysis, etc., in which the students

have difficulties in properly understanding. As more difficulties are encountered by the

students, leads to the downfall of their academic mental state and on how the students

perceive mathematics.

Student’s Perception

Academic Difficulties
Preparations Encountered

Definition of Terms
 The following terms are defined operationally for the purpose of clarity of the key

terms used in this study:

Perception is the act or faculty of perceiving, or apprehending by means of the senses or

of the mind; cognition; understanding. In this study, perception is one of our main topic

as we talk about the selected grade 9 students’ perception.

Mathematics defined as the values on which mathematical operations occur in an

algebraic expression. In this study mathematics is one our main topic as we talk about

perception of selected grade 9 students towards mathematics.

Difficulty: the quality or state of being hard to do, deal with, or understand. In this study,

difficulty is one of our major questions to see how students perceive the difficulties of

mathematics.

Intervention the act or fact of becoming involved intentionally in a difficult situation. In

this study, intervention is also one of our major questions to see how students perceive

intervention towards mathematics.

Academic Preparation a proactive and developmental approach that focuses on

personal and professional growth for all students, regardless of academic risk or

performance, by developing life-long learning skills. In this study, academic preparations

is one of our major questions to see how students perceive academic preparation towards

mathematics.

Notes

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https://encp.unibo.it/article/

https://iopscience.iop.org/