Mathematic literacy of students in 9th grade:  Research based on the PISA study test

Yaftian, N.; Shayan, M.

doi:10.22061/jte.2019.5138.2177

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

N. Yaftian ¹
M. Shayan ²

¹ Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Iran

² Department of Mathematics, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22061/jte.2019.5138.2177

Abstract

Background and Objective:In workplaces, employees need to understand the meaning of the calculations they perform in their work environment, and in fact employers expect a desirable level of mathematical application from their employees. Education is obliged to train students as useful citizens for the society in proportion to the progress of science and technology. The question is whether a student, after compulsory education, is able to face everyday challenges or not. In many educational societies, this readiness and ability is called literacy, and in particular mathematical literacy. In other words, mathematical literacy includes applications of mathematics in relation to real life. Also, the National Council of Mathematics Teachers has stated that one of the most important goals of mathematics education is to make students aware of the role of mathematics and its effectiveness in life and development of thinking and reasoning; in addition, having confidence in their capacities and abilities in performing mathematical tasks and various problem-solving situations. The purpose of this study is to study the mathematical literacy of students in grade 9.
Methods:The research is descriptive and survey method. The statistical population is 9th grade students of the junior high school in Najaf-Abad city and the sample consists of 266 male and female students selected randomly by cluster sampling method. The instrument for measuring is a researcher-made test based on the PISA study, which included 8 questions and included 14 questions. Student's mathematical literacy was studied in various fields and content areas using mathematical processes. The formal and content validity of the research tool was confirmed by experts in mathematical education and mathematical professors.
Findings:The results showed that students did not perform well in mathematical literacy test. The findings indicate that the student's mathematical world is far from all aspects of issues, content areas, and mathematical processes with the real world. It is hoped that the results of this study will lead to a review of textbooks, teacher training and evaluation methods aimed at improving students' mathematical literacy so that students are more likely to come to the math class.
Conclusion: However, for the progress and development of a society, citizens need to be dynamic and successful in their personal lives and have the ability to solve their personal problems. The expectation from a 15-year-old student is that he or she be able to make financial decisions for his or her personal purchases, for example, or that he or she be able to meet the personal needs of the profits from the purchase and sale of goods. Given that education professionals believe that students need both the components of communication skills and problem-solving ability to enter academia and the job market, and that these two are important through enhanced mathematical literacy, Addressing students' poor performance in assessing math literacy is not without merit.

Keywords

20.1001.1.20080441.1398.13.4.8.5

Main Subjects

Modern Educational Approaches

COPYRIGHTS
©2019 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.

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