Abstract

The study found some connections between personality and mathematics achievement. All the ten personality variables investigated in the present study correlated positively and significantly with mathematics achievement scores. However, only self-efficacy, resiliency, integrity and distortion were good predictors of achievement in mathematics. Female participants performed far much better on a mathematics test than their male counterparts. The personality characteristics of high mathematics achieving students differed significantly from those of low math scorers. Based on these findings, we recommend providing early individual and group counselling to vulnerable students at risk of failing mathematics. Educational interventions should also be provided in form of remedial teaching and motivational talks or workshops to sensitise students about the role of personality attributes in mathematics achievement. Further mixed-methods research is desired to gain additional insights into the problem and its solutions.

Keywords:

Gender imbalance, mathematics achievement, personality attributes, sixth form, tertiary students,

References

1. Bradshaw, L. and L. Mundia, 2005. Understanding preservice teachers’ construct of disability: A met cognitive process. Disabil. Soc., 20(5): 563-574.
   CrossRef    
2. Bradshaw, L. and L. Mundia, 2006. Attitudes to and concerns about inclusive education: Bruneian inservice and preservice teachers. Int. J. Special Educ., 21(1): 35-41.
   
3. Busari, A.O., 2011. The relationship between self-efficacy, motivation and critical thinking disposition to achievement of sandwich degree students. Int. J. Asian Soc. Sci., 1(1): 1-9.
   
4. Carlson, N.R. and C. Heth, 2010. Psychology--the Science of Behaviour. 4th Canadian Edn., Pearson, Toronto.
   
5. Department of Planning, Development and Research, 2010. Education Statistics Brunei Darussalam. Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam.
   
6. Department of Statistics, 2011a. Brunei Darussalam Key Indicators. Department of Economic Planning and Development, Prime Ministers’ Office, Bandar Seri Begawan.
   
7. Hamid, M.H.S., M. Shahrill, R. Matzin, S. Mahalle and L. Mundia, 2013. Barriers to mathematics achievement in Brunei secondary school students: Insights into the roles of mathematics anxiety, self-esteem, proactive coping and test stress. Int. Educ. Stud., 6(11): 1-14.
   
8. Haq, F.S. and L. Mundia, 2012. Comparison of Brunei pre-service student teachers’ attitudes to inclusive education and specific disabilities: Implications for teacher education. J. Educ. Res., 105(5): 366-374.
   CrossRef    
9. Kitsantas, A., S. Steen and F. Huie, 2009. The role of self-regulated strategies and goal orientation in predicting achievement of elementary school children. Int. Electron. J. Element. Educ., 2(1): 65-81.
   
10. Law, F.F., M. Shahrill and L. Mundia, 2015. Investigating students’ conceptual knowledge and procedural skills in the learning of college level trigonometry. Res. J. Appl. Sci. Eng. Technol., 9(11): 952-962.
    
11. Mahalle, S., R., Matzin, M.H.S. Hamid, M. Shahrill and L. Mundia, 2013. Brunei student teachers’ selected personal attributes, attitudes to women and interpersonal trust: Brief psychological report. Asian Soc. Sci., 10(1): 151-157.
    CrossRef    
12. Matzin, R., M. Shahrill, S. Mahalle, M.H.S. Hamid and L. Mundia, 2013. A comparison of learning styles and study strategies scores of Brunei secondary school students by test anxiety, success attributions and failure attributions: Implications for teaching at-risk and vulnerable students. Rev. Eur. Stud., 5(5): 119-127.
    CrossRef    
13. Mundia, L., 1998. The status of technical subjects in papua new guinea provincial high schools: A survey of attitudes. Sci. Technol. Dev., 16(2): 104-111.
    
14. Mundia, L., 2010a. Problems in learning mathematics: Comparison of Brunei junior high school students in classes with and without repeaters. J. Math. Res., 2(3): 150-160.
    CrossRef    
15. Mundia, L., 2010b. Prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress in Brunei student teachers. Internet J. Mental Health, 6(2).
    
16. Mundia, L., 2011. Social desirability, non-response bias and reliability in a long self-report measure: Illustrations from the MMPI-2 administered to Brunei student teachers. Educ. Psychol., 31(2): 207-224.
    CrossRef    
17. Mundia, L., 2012a. Policy changes in Brunei teacher education: Implications for the selection of trainee teachers. Educ. Forum, 76(3): 326-342.
    CrossRef    
18. Mundia, L. and H.A.Z.B. Abu Bakar, 2010. The suitability of the EPQ-R short scale for counseling Brunei student teachers when administered in English and Malay languages. Compare J. Comp. Int. Educ., 40(5): 641-658.
    CrossRef    
19. Ninggal, M.T., 2010. Tajima Personality Profile-revised. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
    
20. Omar, N.A., S.R. Matarsat, N.H. Azmin, V.C.A. Wei, M.M.M. Nasir et al., 2014. The ideal psychology teacher: qualitative analysis of views from Brunei GCE a-level students and trainee psychology teachers. Asian Soc. Sci., 10(12): 184-194.
    
21. Shahrill, M. and L. Mundia, 2014. Coping behavior of international late adolescent students in selected Australian educational institutions. Global J. Health Sci., 6(1): 76-91.
    
22. Stapleton, M., 2001. Psychology in Practice: Education. Hodder Education, London.
    
23. Tait, K. and L. Mundia, 2012. Preparing Teachers to Meet the Challenges of Inclusive Education in Negara Brunei Darussalam. In: Future Directions for Inclusive Teacher Education: An International Perspective. Taylor and Francis (Routledge), Abingdon, Oxon. United Kingdom, pp: 61-70.
    
24. Tait, K. and L. Mundia, 2013. A comparison of Brunei and Hong Kong-SAR student teachers’ self-efficacy in implementing inclusive education practices: Implications for teacher education. Asian Soc. Sci., 10(1): 51-60.
    CrossRef    

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

Open Access Policy

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Copyright

The authors have no competing interests.