The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

5. Pupils' views about mathematics

5.1 The pupil questionnaires

At P5, P7 and S2, the survey pupils who undertook mathematics assessments, as opposed to those who participated in the assessment of reading and writing, were invited to complete a questionnaire exploring their home and school learning circumstances and experiences, their views about their mathematics lessons and their perceptions about the importance of mathematics in general and for particular occupations. Four different questionnaires were used at all stages, simply to reduce the length of the paper questionnaire placed in front of each pupil. One set of enquiries - home resources, homework, out-of-school activities and job aspirations - was common to all four questionnaire versions. The other enquiries were distributed across the four versions, so that each pupil answered a subset of questions on each topic: the amount of time they spent in various activities in the company of the adults in their lives, their opinions about their school learning experiences in mathematics, how often they engaged in various different kinds of activities in their subject lessons, and how important they thought mathematics to be for people in various kinds of jobs. An exemplar questionnaire is given in Appendix D.

Around 2000 pupils at each stage completed questionnaires. Return rates on the part of schools was high: 95% of 'P5 schools' (i.e. survey schools in which P5 pupils were assessed), 88% of 'P7 schools' and 93% of secondary schools returned pupil questionnaires. Among the returning schools, 84% of the 'P5 schools' and 82% of the 'P7 schools' returned completed questionnaires for 90-100% of their sample pupils. At S2, around half the participating survey schools returned completed questionnaires for 70-75% of their sample pupils, the proportions being lower in the remaining half.

5.2 The pupils

The profile of general pupil characteristics that emerged in this survey almost exactly mirrors that which emerged in the same enquiry in the 2002 survey of Social Subjects Enquiry Skills ¹⁰ and the 2003 survey of Science ¹¹. It is only where subject-specific enquiries are concerned that the findings differ, and the differences are noted at relevant points throughout this chapter.

5.2.1 Gender, language, hobbies and job aspirations

All three stage samples were evenly divided by gender, and on average just over 80% of the pupils claimed that English was their first language - 'the one you use most at home'. Another 5% of the pupils mentioned 'Scottish', while the remaining pupils mentioned one or other of 32 different languages.

Three-quarters of the pupils were members of at least one club or other activity-based organisation, the proportion falling from over 80% at P5 through around 75% at P7 to just under 60% at S2 (these figures exactly mirror the picture that emerged in the previous year's science survey). The clubs/societies concerned can loosely be grouped into 'sport', 'youth' (including scouts and guides), 'cultural' (drama, dance, music including choirs and bands), and 'intellectual' (science, chess, computer, library, etc). On the basis of their survey responses, club/group activities were significantly more popular amongst the girls than the boys at P5 and P7 (84% of the girls at P5 compared with 77% of the boys agreed that they belonged to a club or society out-of-school; at P7 the respective proportions were 79% and 73%) but less popular at S2 (56% of the girls mentioned clubs/groups compared with 64% of the boys).

As far as job aspirations are concerned, roughly four out of five pupils at each stage mentioned at least one occupation, and the resulting range of jobs was extremely wide. As reported for the 2002 survey of Social Subjects Enquiry Skills and the 2003 survey of Science, the evidence from this repeat enquiry confirms once again that jobs remain very heavily gender typed in the eyes of young people, with, for example, 'footballer' featuring largely in the boys' occupational aspirations and 'nurse' and 'hairdresser' in the girls'.

5.2.2 Home resources for learning

As well as traditional home resources, such as dictionary, atlas and calculator, pupils were asked whether they had access to a computer and the internet at home, whether they had a mobile phone (a possible learning tool), and whether they had access to a television and video recorder in their homes. They were also asked if they had a quiet place to study at home. Access rates are given in Table 5.1.

Again, the findings here reflect closely those already reported for the 2002 survey of Social Subject Enquiry Skills and the 2003 Science survey. High proportions of the pupils in all three stages had use of a quiet place to study at home, along with access to a dictionary and calculator (70-80% for each resource). And while access to a computer and the internet was lower at P5 than at P7 and lower at P7 than S2, the majority of pupils at all stages had access to these potential learning resources (60-80% for a computer; 50-75% for the internet). The learning resource which the fewest pupils claimed access to was an atlas (40-50%).

Some pupils had access to all the resources, the proportions increasing with age: 13% at P5, 20% at P7 and 29% at S2.

5.2.3 Home support for learning

Pupils were asked how often they engaged in different activities with the adults in their families. Table 5.2 presents the findings.

According to the pupils, the activities most frequently shared with adult family members were 'watching TV and videos' (60-70% of the pupils claimed to do this on 'most days') and 'listening to music' (around half the pupils answered 'on most days'). Playing sport/games and keeping fit, and talking about films and TV programmes were also relatively popular activities, with 30-40% of the pupils responding 'most days' in these cases. The least frequent family activities were going to the cinema, a theatre, a live concert or dance, the majority of pupils at all stages claiming to engage in this type of activity once a month at most (70-80%).

Two family activities showed clear age-related trends: 'reading or talking about books', with 31% of the P5 pupils agreeing that they did this 'on most days' compared with a lower 17% of pupils at P7 and an even lower 8% at S2, and 'playing sport/games or keeping fit', with 54% of the P5 pupils agreeing that they did this 'on most days' compared with a lower 46% of pupils at P7 and an even lower 35% at S2.

There were some marked gender differences at all stages in terms of the types of family activity that the pupils claimed to engage in frequently. In particular, the girls tended more frequently than the boys to spend time reading books or talking about them, listening to music and attending live theatre, a concert or dance. At S2, the boys tended more frequently than the girls to play sport/games or to keep fit with other family members.

5.3 Predominant activities in mathematics lessons

As far as their school experience of mathematics is concerned, pupils were asked to indicate how often they engaged in various activities in their mathematics lessons, checking the options 'in most lessons', 'most weeks', 'each term' and 'rarely'. Figure 5.1 illustrates the activity profiles for the two sectors, while the detailed stage-related data are given in Table E.1 in Appendix E.

Figure 5.1
Activities in Mathematics lessons at P5/P7 and S2
(% pupils giving each frequency response: 500-700 pupils per stage per question)

According to their responses, 80-90% of the pupils at all stages spent at least some time in most lessons or in most weeks writing in their jotters/files, working quietly alone and reading texts/reference books.

While over 90% of the primary pupils also claimed to spend time in most lessons or most weeks completing worksheets, the proportion for S2 pupils was lower here at just under 70%. This is one of three activities that showed a clear stage-related trend, as opposed to simple sector-related differences, with almost 45% of the P5 pupils claiming to complete worksheets in 'most lessons, dropping to just over 35% at P7 and just over 25% at S2 (see Table E.1 in Appendix E). The other two activities showing age-related trends were 'handling objects and artefacts' and 'watching and responding to video and audio tapes', both of which decreased in reported frequency with increasing age.

According to the pupils' responses, working with a computer, alone or with a partner, was not a regular part of mathematics learning, particularly at S2 (over 60% of S2 pupils and 20-25% of primary pupils claiming to do this 'rarely'). Indeed, the evidence from the three subject surveys of 2002-2004 would suggest that, unless computer use has decreased generally over the period, computers are more frequently used in the social subjects curriculum than in science, and more frequently in science than in mathematics. Working in the school grounds and visiting places outside school were among the least frequent activities engaged in during mathematics lessons, with frequency decreasing with increasing age.

5.4 Homework

The questionnaire included two statements relating to homework: 'We get regular homework in mathematics' and 'I use a computer to do my mathematics homework'. It also invited pupils to indicate how much time they spent on homework each week.

A high 70-80% of the pupils at each stage agreed that they 'always' or 'mostly' had regular homework in mathematics, with one third answering 'always'. This picture differs significantly from that for science in the 2003 survey, where homework featured far more prominently in the experience of the S2 pupils compared with the primary pupils (well over half the S2 pupils claimed that they 'always' or 'mostly' received regular science homework compared with around 15% of the pupils at P5 and P7). In contrast, fewer than 10% of the pupils at any stage agreed that they 'always' or 'mostly' used a computer to do their mathematics homework, compared with 20-25% of the pupils in the 2003 Science survey with respect to science homework. Just over half the primary pupils and just under half the S2 pupils said that they definitely did not use a computer for their mathematics homework.

As with any information based on retrospective estimation, the pupils' responses about the time they typically spent on their mathematics homework can only be considered as very loosely indicative, even more so than their responses to frequency of specific lesson activities. That said, the S2 pupils claimed to spend significantly more time on average on homework than did the P7 or P5 pupils: an average of just under 2_ hours at S2 compared with around 1_ hours at P5 and P7.

5.5 Perceptions about classroom learning experience

In an exploration into views about classroom learning experience, pupils were invited to rate each of a set of given statements for perceived applicability to their mathematics lessons. For example, pupils were to indicate the degree to which the statement "We learn a lot of facts in mathematics" applied to their mathematics learning. Opinions were noted by checking one of the following response options: "Yes, always", "Mostly", "Not usually" and "Definitely not", with "Don't know" also a possibility.

The list of statements focused on a variety of issues, including the style of teaching/learning, the nature of assessment, the pupil's interest in the subject, the pupil's level of self-confidence, and so on. For ease of presentation the statements are here loosely grouped into those that relate to 'The nature of teaching and learning', 'Motivation to learn' and 'Assessment and feedback'.

5.5.1 The nature of teaching and learning

In Table 5.3 we see a mixture of different statements, some relating to the nature of subject learning, others to the style of subject teaching, and yet others to issues of classroom climate (e.g. discipline).

Table 5.3 shows that the majority of pupils in all stages thought that they were expected to work hard in their mathematics lessons (95% responding 'yes, always' or 'mostly', with 75-80% agreeing 'always'), that they were given help when they needed it (85-90%, with 50-60% agreeing 'always'), that everyone had a chance to say what they thought (around 75%, with 40-45% agreeing 'always'), and that they found it easy to concentrate and work hard in class (also around 75%, with 25-30% agreeing 'always'). Two-thirds of the pupils also agreed that work was 'mostly' handed in on time, though fewer than 10% at S2 and under 15% at P5/P7 agreed that this happened 'always'. Lower proportions of pupils thought that learning in mathematics is about asking 'Why?' and 'What if?'; indeed a quarter of the S2 pupils and just over 15% of the primary pupils claimed they didn't know. Confirming the finding in relation to frequency of various lesson activities, computer use in mathematics lessons was not common at any stage, according to the survey pupils.

5.5.2 Motivation to learn

A number of statements related to aspects of pupils' motivation to learn (see Table 5.4). Some of these focused on intrinsic motivation, e.g. the degree to which pupils found topics and investigations interesting, and others on extrinsic motivation, in particular their own and their family's perceptions about the value of mathematics for later learning and for jobs.

Whatever else the pupils thought of mathematics, high proportions of them shared the view that this subject is important, in particular for their future working lives but also for later study in other subjects, and they thought that their families felt the same way (85-90% of the pupils at all stages offered a positive rating to statements about the importance of this subject). Perhaps not surprisingly, therefore, high proportions of the pupils also agreed that they wanted to do well in mathematics (95% of the pupils answering 'always' or 'mostly'), and that they worked hard on topics and investigations (around 90% at each stage answering 'always' or 'mostly'): the primary pupils were in general more positive on these counts than the S2 pupils.

The pupils were on the whole less convinced about the interest value of mathematics in school, and their enjoyment of it, both interest and enjoyment decreasing with increasing stage. For example, while almost 30% of the P5 pupils agreed that they 'always' had interesting topics and investigations to do in their mathematics lessons, the corresponding proportion at P7 was under 20%, dropping still further to under 5% at S2. Again, while over a third of the P5 pupils claimed to look forward to their mathematics lessons 'always', the figure at P7 was under 20% dropping further to just over 5% at S2. A similar picture emerged for enjoyment of books about mathematics.

5.5.3 Assessment and feedback

The findings for the statements that relate to "Assessment and feedback" are presented in Table 5.5.

High proportions of pupils at all stages claimed that they typically found this subject 'always' or 'mostly' easy to understand (80-90%), with the P5 pupils significantly more positive about this than the P7 pupils and the P7 pupils significantly more positive than the S2 pupils on the whole. High proportions of pupils also disagreed that they went through the work too slowly or that they fell behind with their work (70-80% answering 'no' or 'not usually' in each case). Just over 60% of the S2 pupils and 50-60% of the primary pupils claimed that it was not, or not usually, hard to catch up if they missed a lesson.

As far as their experience of teacher assessment was concerned, rather similar proportions of the pupils in both sectors claimed that this generally took the form of short tests (around half responding 'always' or 'mostly').

5.6 Perceptions about mathematics and jobs

An enquiry specific to this particular survey related to pupils' perceptions of the value of mathematics in different professional occupations. Figure 5.2 illustrates the general pattern of opinion, while the detailed data are given in Table E.2 in Appendix E.

Figure 5.2
Perceptions of the importance of mathematics for different occupational groups
(% pupils checking 'very important': 500-700 pupils per stage per question)

The purpose of this enquiry was not so much to explore how realistic pupils' perceptions are about the importance of mathematics to particular jobs, but rather to explore general perceptions of the importance of this subject as far as this might affect learning motivation. And indeed the evidence is that mathematics was perceived to be 'very important' or 'quite important' for most of the occupations listed by the majority of pupils in both sectors, accountants topping the list (see Table E.2 in Appendix E). The view that mathematics is 'very important' for accountants and architects increased steadily from P5 through P7 to S2, as Figure 5.1 illustrates, while for pilots and engineers pupils' appreciation of the importance of mathematics increased between P7 and S2, with significantly more of the S2 pupils than of the primary pupils feeling that mathematics is 'very important' for these jobs.

5.7 Summary

Those pupils at P5, P7 and S2 who had attempted mathematics booklets, rather than reading booklets, were invited to complete a questionnaire exploring their home and school learning circumstances and experiences, their views about their mathematics lessons and their perceptions about the importance of mathematics in general and for particular occupations. Around 2000 pupils completed questionnaires at each stage, with an even gender mix. The majority of the pupils claimed that English was their first language -'the one you use most at home', while a small proportion mentioned 'Scottish' and the rest mentioned one or other of 32 different languages. Most of the pupils were members of at least one out-of-school club or group, the proportion decreasing with age. The girls were more likely than the boys to be members of clubs/groups at P5/P7 but less likely at S2. Pupils' job aspirations were very varied and heavily gender typed at all stages.

At least half the pupils at every stage had access to one or other of a series of potential learning resources at home; access to a computer and to the internet increased with age. The most popular family activities were watching TV programmes and videos and listening to music, followed by playing sport/keeping fit and talking about films and television programmes. The least frequent activities were going to the cinema, or to a theatre, concert or dance. Reading and talking about books with family members decreased markedly in popularity with age, as did listening to music and cultural outings. Reading and talking about books was more popular with girls than boys at all stages.

In mathematics lessons in both sectors the most frequent activities were writing in jotters/files, working quietly alone and reading texts/reference books. Other lesson activities were generally more frequent for the primary pupils than for S2, including the use of computers, which was not common in either sector. Working in the school grounds and visiting places outside school were among the least frequent activities engaged in, with frequency decreasing with increasing age.

The majority of pupils in all three stages thought that they were expected to work hard in their mathematics lessons, that they were given help when they needed it, that everyone had a chance to say what they thought, and that they found it easy to concentrate and work hard in class. Relatively low proportions of pupils thought that learning in mathematics is about asking 'Why?' and 'What if?', and once again computer use in mathematics lessons was confirmed as uncommon at any stage.

The majority of pupils at all stages shared the view that mathematics is an important subject, for later study and also for future jobs, and agreed that their families thought so too. When presented with a list of different occupations, the pupils in all three stages were in general agreement about the value of mathematics to the people in the jobs concerned. Only for accountants, architects, pilots and engineers did the pupils' views change markedly from one stage to another, with perceptions of the importance of mathematics for these jobs becoming stronger with increasing age.

High proportions of the pupils agreed that they wanted to do well in mathematics, and that they worked hard in their lessons. Enjoyment of mathematics, however, decreased markedly with increasing age (having interesting topics and investigations to do, enjoying reading books about mathematics, looking forward to mathematics lessons).

High proportions of pupils at all stages claimed that they typically found mathematics easy to understand, and disagreed that they went through the work too slowly or that they fell behind with their work. The majority claimed that it was not usually hard to catch up if they missed a lesson. As far as their experience of teacher assessment was concerned, around half the pupils in both sectors claimed that this generally took the form of short tests.

« Previous | Contents | Next »