Anticipated Date of Graduation

Summer 2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Mathematical Sciences

Department

Mathematics

First Advisor

Douglas Darbro

Abstract

This research study was conducted at Coldwater High School in Coldwater, Ohio with the intention of exploring student success and achievement in mathematics. Being a mathematics teacher at the high school, the author of this thesis was motivated to learn how to encourage further student success in the mathematics classroom and what could be done to implement strategies to promote even more success. Data were collected from nearly all of the senior and junior students, including a survey on student attitudes towards mathematics, to analyze and better understand the goals of this study. Some of the collected data would include ACT mathematics scores, GPA, demographic information, and more. There were a couple key research questions to be answered through the use of statistical hypothesis testing. The first of these questions had to deal with analyzing the relationships that existed between student attitudes towards mathematics and student success in mathematics. As expected, there was a positive correlation between the two. The second research question searched for a “formula for success” for students specifically at Coldwater High School utilizing the predictor variables that were gathered in the data collection process. The reader is encouraged to shuffle through the results and summary chapters of this document to find this formula and the statistical process that went into deriving the formula. Statistical tests in this study include t-tests, ANOVA, and backward multiple regression techniques. The results will allow the author to better serve the students at Coldwater. The plan is to discuss with the staff and administration of the high school to determine the best ways of implementing teaching strategies that will promote future student academic success in mathematics.

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