Interplay between Mathematics Attitudes and Achievement of Non-Mathematics Major Teacher Education Students in Leyte, Philippines

The study of attitudes toward mathematics has become a significant concern for scholars across various cultural contexts and educational settings. While further research is needed on teacher education students who do not specialize in mathematics, understanding their attitudes is crucial, as it may significantly influence their success in the subject. This study examined the attitudes toward mathematics among non-mathematics major teacher education students, focusing on enjoyment, motivation, self-confidence, perceived value, and mathematics achievement. This study was conducted at a government-run higher education institution in Leyte, the Philippines. Utilizing a quantitative approach, this study employed surveys as the primary tool, following descriptive and correlational designs. The study involved 244 students selected through stratified random sampling, followed by a simple random sampling technique. Adopted Attitudes toward Mathematics Inventory (ATMI) and secondary data on students’ mathematics achievement were used to analyse the associations between the study variables. The results revealed that while students generally exhibited slightly favourable attitudes regarding enjoyment and motivation in mathematics, their self-confidence was notably low. Despite this, they recognized the subject's value and demonstrated a generally good level of mathematical achievement. The result of the analyses also indicated significant yet weak positive associations between enjoyment [rs=0.245, p<.001], motivation [rs=0.214, p<.001], and value [rs=0.164, p=.010] with mathematics achievement, while self-confidence was not significantly related to mathematics outcomes [rs=-0.088, p=.173]. These weak associations suggest that other factors beyond attitude play a more significant role in shaping students' mathematics achievement, necessitating further exploration to confirm the results.