Influencias das habilidades e das atitudes em relação a matematica e a escolha profissional
AUTOR(ES)
Elizabeth Adorno de Araujo
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO
1999
RESUMO
The objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between career choice and abilities and attitudes towards mathematics. It was investigated the way students of different levels of mathematical abilities from the fields of exact sciences, biology and humanities solved algebra problems. The subjects were 145 high school students &am a public and a private school in their senior year, and 233 university students. The instruments used were: a questionnaire, an attitude scale, a test containing 10 general questions on algebra and a series of algebra problems. The results showed differences in the performance of students &om the different areas, and those &om exact sciences had superior performance .The performance in the private school was better; however, in the public school the attitudes were more positive. The attitude towards mathematics was more positive among the subjects from exact sciences, at both levels. Most subjects from humanities, at university, failed the test completely, which showed total lack of knowledge on the subject matter. Among the variables analyzed, the subject?s self-perception of performance showed a strong relationship with the performance and with the attitude towards mathematics. In the process of problem solving, the ?less capable? students did not use algebra procedures, but rather resorted to estimates, or simply carried out operations with the numbers &om the proposal. There were mistakes due to algebra difficulties, at a conceptual level and due to the incorrect use of properties or operations. The results clearly show the need for school work that aims at making the teaching of algebra more significant for all individuals, regardless of their career choice
ASSUNTO(S)
vocação capacidade matematica algebra atitude (psicologia) educação matematica
