Ortaokul öğrencilerinin matematiğe yönelik temel psikolojik ihtiyaçlarının incelenmesi

Abstract

In this study, the purpose were to i) determine the level of the basic psychological needs of middle school students in mathematics, and ii) examine the autonomy, attachment, and sufficiency needs of the students by considering grade levels and genders of the students. The study was conducted with 484 students (235 girls and 249 boys) studying at a public school in Izmir. In order to determine the basic psychological needs of the students in mathematics, Basic Psychological Need Scale was used. The end-term mathematical class grades were used to determine the mathematical success levels of the students. Descriptive statistical analyses, MANOVA and Bonferroni tests were made use of in the analyses of the data. According to the descriptive analyses results, the needs of the students for autonomy, attachment and sufficiency in mathematics classes were determined to be over medium level. While the highest mean value of the students in mathematics was in attachment dimension, the lowest mean value was determined in sufficiency dimension. According to MANOVA and Bonferroni test results, it was understood that the autonomy, attachment and sufficiency needs of the students with high mathematics success levels were higher than those with medium and low-level mathematical success. On the other hand, the autonomy, attachment and sufficiency need points of the sixth graders were found to be higher than those of seventh graders. It was determined that the basic psychological needs of the students did not differ at a significant level according to gender variable. As a conclusion, it is recommended that students are guided in mathematics classes for classroom activities that are proper for their abilities, interests and developments to cover their basic needs in mathematics, and feasible targets are set. Keywords: Basic psychological needs, gender, middle school, mathematics