Student Variables and Senior Secondary Students’ Achievement in Mathematics in Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

This research study focused on the relationship between the student variable and their achievement in
mathematics at the senior secondary school level in Rivers State, Nigeria. The ex-post facto research design
was adopted for this study, since already conducted mathematics test scores of the students were retrieved
and used for the analysis. Furthermore, data were elicited through the student variable and students’
achievement in mathematics questionnaire (SVAMQ). This questionnaire consisted of five sections and was
administered to the students. A population of 10,120 students were involved in the study out of which 4510
were chosen for the sample using the Yarrow Yamen’s formula. The data were analyzed using the Z-test
statistic, means and simple percentage. The findings were that to a high extent students’ attitude towards
mathematics, their perceptions of the importance of mathematics and their self-concept influenced their
achievement in mathematics. Based on these findings, recommendations were made.