Twenty-eighth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

This paper seeks to inform academic and research sectors in the Philippines by providing a contextualized tool in measuring the mathematics attitude of Filipino junior high school students. The tool was anchored on the Attitude Towards Mathematics Inventory (ATMI) by (Tapia & Marsh, 1996) and was supported by other instruments. This research initially investigated four aspects of attitude in ATMI, which are, Motivation, Enjoyment, Confidence, and Value. The 60-item reconstructed tool was tested among 305 junior high school students (Grade 7 – Grade 10) in the Philippines using Google Forms. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to determine the structure among factors and measure its construct validity. For internal consistency, Cronbach’s Alpha is computed after. SPSS version 21 was used for the processes. After six (6) data rotations, 41 items remained, and four underlying factors were found in the Mathematics Attitude Survey. Items are removed due to their low factor loading (less than 0.5), single items in one construct, and negative coefficients. After counterchecking the items per construct, three factors from the original constructs were retained which are Motivation (3 items), Confidence (13 items), and Value (10 items). Enjoyment was replaced with Interest (15 items) after face validity and literature review. Since the tool has withstood factor analysis and has construct validity and has an overall Cronbach’s alpha of 0.942, the items in the revised instrument are reliable. The Mathematics Attitude Survey for Filipino students is an efficient tool in measuring attitudes of Filipino students towards mathematics.