A Survey on the Permanence of Finnish Students’ Arithmetical Skills and the Role of Motivation

Timo Tossavainen,Jorma K Merikoski,Pertti Väisänen,Tuija Lukin,Hannele Suomalainen

doi:10.1155/2015/213429

Timo Tossavainen, Jorma K Merikoski + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/213429

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Abstract

This study concerns the permanence of the basic arithmetical skills of Finnish students by investigating how a group (N=463) of the eighth and eleventh year students and the university students of humanities perform in problems that are slightly modified versions of certain PISA 2003 mathematics test items. The investigation also aimed at finding out what the impact of motivation-related constructs, for example, students’ achievement goal orientations, is and what their perceived competence beliefs and task value on their performance in mathematics are. According to our findings, the younger students’ arithmetical skills have declined through the course of ten years but the older students’ skills have become generic to a greater extent. Further, three motivational clusters could be identified accounting for 7.5 per cent of students’ performance in the given assignments. These results are compatible with the outcomes of the recent assessments of the Finnish students’ mathematical skills and support the previous research on the benefits of learning orientation combined with the high expectation of success and the valuing of mathematics learning.

Highlights

In this millennium, the success in PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) surveys has induced much positive interest in Finnish school and mathematics education
This study concerns the permanence of the basic arithmetical skills of Finnish students by investigating how a group (N = 463) of the eighth and eleventh year students and the university students of humanities perform in problems that are slightly modified versions of certain PISA 2003 mathematics test items
Three motivational clusters could be identified accounting for 7.5 per cent of students’ performance in the given assignments. These results are compatible with the outcomes of the recent assessments of the Finnish students’ mathematical skills and support the previous research on the benefits of learning orientation combined with the high expectation of success and the valuing of mathematics learning

Summary

Introduction

The success in PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) surveys has induced much positive interest in Finnish school and mathematics education. The publication of the latest PISA results in December 2013 has only increased this criticism; the scores for Finland in the PISA 2012 mathematics test fell significantly [2]. The Finnish National Board of Education, which is responsible for drawing up the national core curricula for primary and secondary education in Finland, regularly surveys primary and secondary students’ mathematical achievement with quite extensive samples. Geometry and the operations with the concept of per cent seem to be especially problematic issues for Finnish students

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