Critical thinking disposition of Malaysian secondary school students towards mathematics and its relationship with students’ self efficacy

Abstract

Critical thinking disposition is one of the factors that 21st-century education welcomes to develop better globalisation nationwide. Especially in Mathematics, it has been a vision to create future learners who implement learning into real-life. However, international tests such as PISA and TIMSS, has shown poor results for Malaysian students, especially 15 years old students, inconsequent years despite the change in syllabus and learning aspects. Therefore, this study aims to identify the level of critical thinking disposition towards mathematics among lower secondary students from the Plentong district and establish the relationship between critical thinking dispositions and self-efficacy through quantitative research of 126 students selected through random sampling. Instruments used in this study were two questionnaires that consist of questions to evaluate the level of critical thinking disposition towards Mathematics and evaluate the self-efficacy towards Problem Solving. Both the questionnaire consists of Likert scales (1 as highest to 5 as lowest). Data were analysed using SPSS version 26. The analysis on the level of disposition among Malaysian students towards Mathematics showed a moderate scale. The Spearman Correlational test used to identify the relationship between self-efficacy and the level of Mathematics’ critical thinking dispositions. The result showed no statistical significance, which proves there is no association between selfefficacy and critical thinking disposition levels. The findings of this study emphasis on problem-solving and critical thinking skills in Mathematics.