Browsing by Author "Lohvansuu, Henriikka"

The Finnish school system has long been credited for consistently achieving equality in learning outcomes. However, recent research revealed an emerging segregation, especially within the Helsinki metropolitan area. There has also been frequent discussions revolving around motivation and learning outcomes differences between genders. The connections between motivation factors and mathematical skills have been vastly researched, but disportionately, due to limited research on those in lower primary school. The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences in motivation and mathematical skills between genders and schools. This study also investigates how motivation factors correlates to mathematical skills on primary schools third grade pupils. The motivation factors used in this study are mathematical self-concept and expectancy-value theory fields: intrinsic value, utility value and costs. The data used in this study was collected for the international MathMot investigation project. 215 third grade pupils from four different schools within Helsinki participated in the research. The participants filled out a questionnaire that measured their mathematical motivation, followed by three different test to measure their mathematical skills. In the analysis non-parametric methods where used: Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis H test, and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Based on the results of this study it can be concluded that there were some differences between schools: intrinsic value, utility value, and costs. There were no differences in mathematical self-concept despite the significant differences in mathematical skills between the schools. Girls tended to show greater interest in mathematics, as well as a higher regard for its usefulness. In comparison, Girls outperformed slightly better in the non-verbal fluid intelligence measuring Ravens test. Self-concept had the strongest relation to mathematical skill.