Abstract
Most programs at the university level require completion of mathematics courses. To survive inuniversity, those who are taking mathematics courses should succeed in their examination so that this canbe a path for them to proceed smoothly in their study. This research investigates the factors contributingtowards achievement in mathematics at a public university. The identified factors are students’ attitude,student-centered learning and classroom environments. The data was collected randomly from 86students who took business mathematics course in 2018 through a distribution of questionnaires. Thisstudy focused on the measurement model and structural model of Partial Least Square analysis. Thefindings indicate that students’ attitude most significantly affected the achievement in mathematics,followed by students’ centered learning. Meanwhile, classroom environment is found as an insignificantfactor of the achievement in mathematics. As a conclusion, students’ attitude is the most influential factorin mathematics achievement compared to students’ centered learning and classroom environments.Therefore, the management of higher education should focus on the empowerment of students’ attitudetowards mathematics subject and improve the quality of student-centered learning at the university.
 Keywords: achievement in mathematics, students’ attitude, student-centered learning, classroom environments, Partial Least Square
Highlights
It is a fact that mathematics is the foundation of science and technology
Trends International Mathematics and Science (TIMSS) study in 2015 has shown that even though Malaysian students’ performance in mathematics has significantly improved from 440 points in 2011 to 465 in 2015, but it was far behind to compete with top countries like Singapore who ranked 1st place with 621 points in 2015
As we have reviewed the underlying theory for each model’s construct students’ attitude, students’ centered learning and classroom environments and the achievement in mathematics, we have developed each construct, discussed the relationship and listed the associated hypothesis, as shown below: H1: Students’ attitude has a significant and positive effect on the students’ achievement in mathematics
Summary
It is a fact that mathematics is the foundation of science and technology. The role of mathematics to science and technology is multifaceted and multifarious that no area of science and technology escapes its application (Okereke, 2006). Despite the advancement of the teaching and learning strategies today, students’ achievement in mathematics remains low. The result of the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) found that Malaysia ranked as 52nd out of 76 participating international countries. This program is a worldwide study conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) of 15-year-old students’ scholastic performance on mathematics, science and reading.
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