European Journal of Alternative Education Studies
ISSN: 2501-5915
ISSN-L: 2501-5915
Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu
Volume 2 │ Issue 1 │ 2017
doi: 10.5281/zenodo.345174
STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
Isaac Owusu-Darkoi,
Winnifred Ansah-Hughes,
Robert Akpalu
Department of Mathematics Education, Valley View University,
Techiman Campus, P. O. Box 183, Techiman, Ghana
Abstract:
The focus of every pedagogical development is to enhance a greater percentage of
students’ engagement in mathematics education. Students interest in getting fully
involved in mathematical lessons could be influenced by their emotional dispositions
possess to appreciate their total commitment to lesson engagement in relation to their
academic performance. The study used a cross-sectional quantitative survey design to
study the influence of Emotional Dispositional Empathy on Mathematical Engagement
(mathematical performance) among Atiwa Senior High School (SHS) students in
Ghana, West Africa. Participants across SHS 1, 2 and 3 were selected from the three
clustered SHS to take part in the study. The methodology used for the study was the
descriptive research design purported to investigate the research questions along the
magnitude of qualitative analyses using the Pearson independent chi-square test
statistics. The study’s hypothetical test of students’ emotional empathy SEE
is
independent of students' mathematical engagement reflective of their Academic
Performance “P . Students’ emotional disposition is seen to have adverse significant
effect of students’ Mathematical engagement. It is concluded however that, to some
extent, students emotional empathy (SEE) can results in dislike in mathematics
engagement which affect students’ performance of the subject. After careful analyses of
the study variables, we recommend that students should not be stressed up in the
school or in the house with emotional indicative variables that could trigger students’
emotions and affection in the classroom especially when students are preparing for
mathematical lessons. Mathematics educators need to satisfy a paradigm aspect of
students’ affective domain so as to bring their affection on board even if they are
Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved.
© 2015 2017 Open Access Publishing Group
12
Isaac Owusu-Darko, Winnifred Ansah-Hughes, Robert Akpalu
STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
stressed up emotionally. The used of corporal punishment in the teaching of
mathematics should be discourage so as to prevent panic and negative stimulus to elicit
emotional distress.
Keywords: emotions, dispositional empathy (DE), mathematical engagement, attitude,
academic performance (AP), senior high school (SHS)
1. Introduction
The pedagogical development of mathematics to bring about effective teaching and
learning has been the concern of all and sundry mathematics educators. Content
delivery of mathematics seeks to engrossed students engagement proportionately by
placing them in the center of learning to ensure a much prudent understanding.
Mathematical conceptual building is seen through students commitment to
mathematical engagement and should be appealed to the head, heart and emotional
status more since it involves more reasoning and calculations perceived cognitively as
difficult especially among students in Ghana, Owusu-Darko, (2017). The knowledgebased acquisition restrictions of the mathematical content and engagement could be
measured along emotional dispositional empathies students attach to it. Issues of
emotions should not be a major concern in adolescent’s stage in human developmental
stages. It is therefore imperative that mathematics teachers recognize these gender
dispositions which cause difficulties in mathematical engagement and understanding.
The conceptual framework surrounding empathy is
an individual’s ability to
experience the perspectives and feelings of other people’s experience or what they are going
through , Davis, 199 . The dispositional component means that, the ability to do so is
something that is internal and not learnt and can be genetically bounded. In other
words, dispositional empathy is the inherent ability to sense or feel what others are
going through in such a way that it produces a willingness or desire to intervene and
help (Decety and Lamm, (2006). Davis (1994) states that research on dispositional
empathy started with emergence of two main perspectives. One perspective viewed
dispositional empathy as affective in nature and the other viewed it as cognitive in
nature. The other side of these allusions is the emotions student’s attaches to
mathematical engagement which need to be looked at. Therefore, earlier researchers
made distinctions between cognitive empathy and affective sympathy. Researchers
therefore took an either or approach towards an assessment of how cognitive and
affective components interact to produce dispositional empathy. The current study
therefore adopted the integrative approach to study mathematics engagement by
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Isaac Owusu-Darko, Winnifred Ansah-Hughes, Robert Akpalu
STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
assessing emotional component of the dispositions with respect to students’
mathematical engagement of Atiwa Senior High School (SHS) students in Ghana
comprising the three principal SHS for which a similar study on gender was
investigated in the same demographic setting with respect to gender dispositional
empathy in students mathematical engagement, Owusu-Darko et al, (2017).
The senior high school of the educational system in Ghana is a crucial one
because it is at this level that some specialization begins. It is from this level that
specialized training colleges and tertiary institutions admit their students. However,
this level of Ghana’s educational system is hit with problems that are geared towards
students’ inability to appreciate mathematics and get along with it well. Salient among
the root causes of this phenomena is the gender dispositional empathy viewed as either
male or female perform better in mathematics, or perhaps, engage along well with the
other respectively. This is why it has become necessary for researchers to be interested
in looking at this psychological syndrome to investigate how this gender dispositional
empathy influence mathematics engagement at Atiwa Senior High Schools. This study
therefore assessed a qualitative study on the influence of gender dispositional empathy
on mathematics engagement among Atiwa SHS students.
1.1 Objective of the study
The main aim of the study was to assess whether there exist a significant association
between students mathematical engagement and their emotional dispositional empathy
of Atiwa Senior High School students. The specific objectives of the study were to:
1. to investigate whether emotional dispositional empathy affect Atiwa SHS
students’ mathematical engagement, and
2. to find the extent to which students’ emotional dispositional empathy affect their
academic performance?
2. Literature Review
The characteristics of students directed towards his dispositions in classroom learning
are as complex as the human nerves can interpret. Emotion is a complex subjective
experience accompanied by biological and behavioural changes, Spark, (19..) Empathy
has many different definitions that encompass a broad range of emotional states,
including caring for other people and having a desire to help them; experiencing
emotions that match another person’s emotions; discerning what another person is
thinking or feeling; and making less distinct the differences between the self and the
other. It also is the ability to feel and share another person’s emotion. Some believe that
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Isaac Owusu-Darko, Winnifred Ansah-Hughes, Robert Akpalu
STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
empathy involves the ability to match another’s emotions, while others believe that
empathy involves being tenderhearted toward another person. Compassion and
sympathy are two terms that many associate with empathy, but all three of these terms
are unique. Compassion is an emotion we feel when others are in need, which
motivates us to help them. Sympathy is a feeling of care and understanding for
someone in need. It can also be understood as having the separateness of defining
oneself and another blur. Empathy necessarily has a
more or less
quality. The
paradigm case of an empathic interaction, however, involves a person communicating
an accurate recognition of the significance of another person’s ongoing intentional
actions, associated emotional states, and personal characteristics in a manner that the
recognized person can tolerate. Recognitions that are both accurate and tolerable are
central features of empathy. The genetic personality of the individual student assumes
the emotional state generated towards mathematics engagement and can have advert
effect on the mathematical engagement and performance.
The human capacity to recognize the bodily feelings of another is related to one’s
imitative capacities and seems to be grounded in an innate capacity to associate the
bodily movements and facial expressions one sees in another with the proprioceptive
feelings of producing those corresponding movements or expressing oneself. Humans
seem to make the same immediate connection between the tone of voice and other vocal
expressions and inner feeling.
Empathy is distinct from sympathy, pity, and emotional contagion. Sympathy or
empathic concern is the feeling of compassion or concern for another, the wish to see
them better off or happier. Pity is a feeling that another is in trouble and in need of help
as they cannot fix their problems themselves, often described as feeling sorry for
someone. Emotional contagion is when a person (especially an infant or a member of a
mob imitatively the emotions that others are showing without necessarily recognizing this is
happening .
An empathic disposition has been seen as a desirable trait for teachers in diverse
settings. This disposition has been identified as key characteristics in being effective in
urban diverse schools (Darling Hammond, 2000; Gordon, 1999).
3. The Emotional Theories
The conceptual definition of emotion refers to a feeling or state involving thoughts,
physiological changes, and an outward expression or behavior. Emotions can be
understood as either states or as processes. When understood as a state (like being
angry at the mathematics teacher or afraid of teacher, content, formulas) resulting in
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STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
anxiety. Emotion is a type of mental state that interacts with other mental states and
causes certain behaviors. These behaviours could put the students in a dispositional
empathy in getting along with mathematical engagement.
Emotion is seen as a process, it is useful to divide emotion into two parts. The
early part of the emotion process is the interval between the perception of the stimulus
and the triggering of the bodily response, Gregory, (2011). The later part of the emotion
process is a bodily response, for example, changes in heart rate, conductance, and facial
expression developed or exhibited towards mathematical learning situation.
The James-Lange theory of emotion argues that an event causes physiological
arousal first and then we interpret this arousal. Only after our interpretation of the
arousal can we experience emotion. If the arousal is not noticed or is not given any
thought, then we will not experience any emotion based on this event. This arousal
causal events in this study is specified by student’s mathematical engagement in the
learning situation where students develop several attitudes towards the mathematics
content, the instructor or formative and summative assessment. A few critics, however,
is given to James-Lange emotional theory as seen by Paul Redding, (2011). His familiar
thought of James that the subjective feeling of an emotion is nothing more than an
awareness of bodily states and processes, primarily conceived as located peripherally
within viscera, skeletal muscle, and skin then proceed by addressing the common
criticism that such an approach denies any cognitive dimension to the emotions. It
should be seen as part of a tradition that aimed at undermining the types of
dichotomous conceptions of body and mind that his critics still took for granted.
Whatever the misconception is look at in Atiwa District of Ghana SHS, the bodily state,
perception and attitudinal clues exhibited by students in mathematical instruction can
be positive or negatively directed and can however have significant effect on students’
performance.
The Cannon-Bard theory argues that we experience physiological arousal and
emotional at the same time, but gives no attention to the role of thoughts or outward
behavior, Davitz, (1969). The nature of mathematics engagement of students in the
pedagogical development of lessons is physically rigorous and appeals significantly to
the psychomotor domain of ”loom’s 19 7 taxonomy of instructional learning. The
stress for which students go through physically in mathematics education initiates some
emotional clues to their mathematical engagement demonstrated typically in Ghanaian
situations such as Atiwa District.
In Schachter-Singer emotional theory, an event causes physiological arousal first.
Similar to Cannon-Bard theory, one must then identify a reason for this arousal and
then one is able to experience and label the emotion. The teaching and learning
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STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
encounter is specified under this physiological arousal fist directed by manipulatives,
especially during mathematical lessons where a lot of teaching aids, activities through
demonstrations are made. The curriculum structure of the Ghanaian system for core
and elective mathematics is designed to engross students holistically in all paradigms of
activities. Does this trigger emotional strand on students’ mathematical engagement
and under what direction? The chart below shows the various emotional theories from
event stimulus arousal to the emotional development.
Source: "Theories of Emotions" by Gregory Johnson, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
In order to know that a trait is an adaptation, we have to be familiar with the
circumstances under which the selection occurred (Brandon, 1990; Richardson, 1996).
How a student’s adapt himself or herself to the learning environment could results in
emotions. The extent to which these emotional results affect mathematical engagement
as the students adapt themselves to the learning environment can have adverse effect
on academic performance. As Dacher Keltner et al. has stated, "Emotions have the
hallmarks of adaptations: They are efficient, coordinated responses that help organisms to
reproduce, to protect offspring, to maintain cooperative alliances, and to avoid physical threats"
(Keltner, Haidt, & Shiota, 2006, p. 117). Teachers who physically threat students to
poised them to learn, do assignment and other cohesion means of adapting to the
learning situation is very typical of not only “tiwa teachers’ but Ghanaian rural
communities teachers as a whole. Although the trend when explaining emotions from
a historical point of view is to focus on adaptations, an alternative is simply to identify
the traits that are present in a certain range of teachers as a means of motivating
students to learn.
According to Paul Griffiths, some emotions should be identified and then
classified in this way (1997, 2004). This classification creates a psychological category,
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STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
which Griffiths terms the affect program emotions: surprise, anger, fear, sadness, joy, and
disgust. In Griffiths' theory, the other emotions belong to different categories
higher-cognitive emotions and the socially constructed emotions
the
and in some cases a
single vernacular term, insults, formula proving, more exercises, unavailability of
teaching and learning aids etc, for example, can cause students anger, anxiety, stress,
dissatisfaction and among others.
3.1 Social and Cultural Theories
The second main approach to explaining the emotions begins with the idea that
emotions are social constructions. Gregory, (2011). That is, emotions are the products of
societies and cultures, and are acquired or learned by individuals through experience.
Virtually everyone who defends this position acknowledges that emotions are to some
degree, natural phenomena. Nonetheless, the central claim made in these theories is
that the social influence is so significant that emotions are best understood from this
perspective. Gregory Johnson, (2011). Emotions typically occur in social settings and
during interpersonal transactions
many, if not most, emotions are caused by other
people and social relationships. Thus, in many cases emotions may be best understood
as interactions between people, rather than simply as one individual's response to a
particular stimulus (Parkinson, 1996). The Ghanaian educational systems place students
in interactive social and cultural diversity realms from different tribal demographic
settings where students from diverse background interact with each other. The class is
usually large exceeding the normal teacher-students ratio of 1:25 due to lack of facilities.
In Akyem Sekyere SDA SHS and Kwabeng Anglican SHS, a class can contain about 70
students on board and this can create some emotional stress on the students.
3.2 Cognitive Theories
The cognitive theories contend that the early part of the emotion process includes the
manipulation of information and so they should be understood as a cognitive process.
As the psychologists Ira Roseman and Craig Smith point out, "Both individual and
temporal variability in reaction to an event are difficult to explain with theories that claim that
stimulus events directly cause emotional response" (2001, p. 4) as cited by Gregory. The
cognitive dispositional empathy of students studied by Owusu-Darko, Osei-Boadu and
Ansah-Hughes, (2017) of the same demographic settings revealed a significant
dependence of students cognitive disposition to their level of mathematical engagement
demonstrated. This gradually affects students’ academic performance significantly.
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STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
3.3 Judgment Theories
Judgment theories are the version of the cognitive position that have been developed by
philosophers. The basic idea, as Robert Solomon puts it, is that an emotion is "a basic
judgment about our Selves and our place in our world, the projection of the values and ideals,
structures and mythologies, according to which we live and through which we experience our
lives" (1993, p. 126). Judging in this context is the mental ability that individuals use
when they acknowledge a particular experience or the existence of a particular state of
the world; what Martha Nussbaum calls "assenting to an appearance" (2004, p. 191). The
judgement teachers, parents, and all stakeholders of the school places on the students
even though, could be motivational, but could one way or the other mess-up students
emotional disposition in the mathematical engagement during lesson delivery. Judging
students learning behavior must be done in a professional way. Placing judgment such
as bad student
Wabon papaapa
meaning in “kan dialect very poor or weak students]
and among others disheartens students and put them on emotional stout.
The model below shows the trend of students’ perception of mathematics that
leads to their emotional status adapted from "Theories of Emotions," by Gregory
Johnson, The
Internet
Encyclopedia
of
Philosophy,
ISSN
2161-
0002, http://www.iep.utm.edu and modified to suit classroom teaching.
Threat/dang
er
Maths lesson
Fear for mathematics represents
danger
Perception of the
Mathematical
content
Change in bodily
state/mood e.g.
frowning
Fear,
Perception of
bodily change
Fear for mathematics
registers this particular bodily
state
Figure 1: An illustration of Prinz's somatic feedback theory to mathematical lesson
perceived by students to trigger fear related emotions
In this example, fear is the mental state caused by feedback from the body (that is, the
perception of the bodily changes). This mental state registers the bodily changes, but
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STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
represents meaningful, albeit simple, information. In this example, the mental state
represents danger. Adapted from Prinz (2004a, p. 69)
4. Method and Materials
The study used a cross sectional source of data with a sample size of 100 respondents
across the students randomly selected from the three SHS in Atiwa District of Ghana
namely, Kwabeng Anglican SHS, Sekyere SDA SHS and Anyinam Atiwa SHS. The
study adopted both descriptive and qualitative methods in analyzing the data. A
random sampling method was used to solicit for information about the respondents in
the study area per their mathematical engagement relative to their gender disposition in
Mathematics lesson. The study used questionnaires and interviews to retrieve all the
relevant information needed for the study. The study used both SPSS and STATA
software’s in the processing and the interpretation of the data gathered from the field. A
Pearson chi-square test of independence and Crammer’s V test of were used for the
analyses
4.1 Conceptual Framework of Pearson Chi-Square and Crammer’s V
The chi-square statistic is a sum of terms each of which is a quotient obtained by
dividing the square of the difference between the observed and theoretical values of a
quantity by the theoretical value defined along the magnitude of categorical counts
(qualitative response variables), Owusu-Darko et al, (2017)
In general, the hypothesis of independence between two variables in which one
is classified into
classes and the other into
, mutually exclusive cells, where
classes gives an
contingency table or
is the number of rows and
the number of
columns. That is, one variables contingent (or dependent) on the other. Table 4.0 is an
contingency table in which variable 1 is classified into
classes and variable
into
classes.
Table 1: A
Variable 1
1
contingency table
2
c
Totals
1
2
r
Totals
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STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
The observation in each cell is called the observed cell frequency representing number
of categories defined by total number of respondent in respective nominal study
variables.
Where ∑
∑
∑
is the marginal total for row , whilst
is the marginal for column .
∑
is the total sample size.
We can test the null hypothesis:
The test statistic (Pearson independent chi-square estimator) is given by
∑
Where
∑
(
)
is the expected cell frequency for the (ij) th cell. It can be shown that
The statistic in Equation (4.1) under the null hypothesis has an approximate chisquare distribution with the number of degrees of freedom given by
The critical region for the test at
significance level is therefore,
–
–
In tests for independence, both row and column marginal totals are free to vary
although the sample size is fixed. The test for independence or homogeneity is a test of
association under consideration.
After we have performed a chi-square test of independence and found the two
variables to be dependent, we may want to measure the strength of dependence
between the two variables. This may be done by finding a constant . called the
contingency coefficient. It is given by
√
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STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
Where
∑
∑
and n is the sample size. The coefficient, c, is always 0 when the two variables are
independent. A disadvantage associated with is that its value is always less than 1, even
when the two variables are completely dependent on each other. For this reason,
Cramer’s V, given by
√
Where is the smallest of the two numbers (r 1) and (c 1), is preferred. The value of V
lies in the internal from 0 to 1.
A descriptive response where necessary could be expressed as percentages
∑
Of students’ response on categorical variables defined for SDE
5. Empirical Results
5.1 Descriptive Analysis
This sub-section discusses the nature of relationship existing between students’
response variable on gender status and their mathematics engagement in Atiwa SHS.
The analyses further elaborate on the dependency of students’ “cademic Performance
(AP) on gender disposition.
5.2 Students Emotional Empathy on Mathematical Content
The study investigates into students’ emotional empathy SEE on mathematical content
in Atiwa District of Ghana Senior High School (SHS), a focus on the research question
what is the relationship between Students’ Emotional empathy SEE and their dispositional
performance among Atiwa Senior High School”. Table 4.2 gives a descriptive response
expressed as percentages, students response on whether mathematical contents is dull
and boring, sometimes find it difficult to see things from other people's point of view in
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STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
mathematics, emotional empathy resulting in dislikes in mathematics, and whether
students mathematical engagement makes ones feel nervous.
Table 2
Status of students’ Emotional Empathy
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
Mathematics is dull and boring
Valid
Not at all
69
43.7
43.7
43.7
Some how
48
30.4
30.4
74.1
Rarely
24
15.2
15.2
89.2
Not rarely
17
10.8
10.8
100.0
158
100.0
100.0
Total
You sometimes find it difficult to see things for other people's point of view in mathematics
Valid
Not at all
49
31.0
31.0
31.0
Some how
66
41.8
41.8
72.8
Rarely
22
13.9
13.9
86.7
Not rarely
21
13.3
13.3
100.0
158
100.0
100.0
Total
Emotional empathy resulting in dislikes in mathematics
Valid
Not at all
46
29.1
29.1
29.1
Some how
58
36.7
36.7
65.8
Rarely
31
19.6
19.6
85.4
Not rarely
23
14.6
14.6
100.0
158
100.0
100.0
Total
Students mathematical engagement makes ones feel nervous
Valid
Strongly Disagree
44
27.8
27.8
27.8
Disagree
60
38.0
38.0
65.8
Agree
20
12.7
12.7
78.5
Strongly Agree
18
11.4
11.4
89.9
Undecided
16
10.1
10.1
100.0
158
100.0
100.0
Total
Data source: field survey 2016
From Table 2, a varied response of students on whether studying mathematics is dull
and boring, those who said not at all comprise 43.7%, somehow (30.4%) rarely and not
rarely comprise 15.2% and 10.8% respectively. It could be seen that majority of students
don’t consider mathematics content as dull.
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STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
A follow through on SEE table 2 records a relatively high percentages of students
reacting to whether they sometimes see things from other peoples’ point of view as
against rarely responses. In the same way, a combined percentage of 65.8% realize SEE
resulting in dislike in mathematical content when engaged compared to 34.2% seeing
this on the rare cases. Hence, to some extent, SEE can result in dislike in mathematics.
Table 3 and 4 would further investigate into the inferential statistics connecting SEE and
AP hereafter.
Interestingly, about 65.8% disagreed to the assertion that mathematics
engagement makes them feel nervous. A few comprising a combined percentage of
24.1% agreed whilst 10.1% were undecided about this matter.
Table 3: Relationship between Emotional empathy and students interest in solving
Mathematical problems (engagement)
Excellent
V. good
Good
Credit
Not at all
8
10
6
12
0
10
46
Some how
0
0
10
15
22
11
58
Rarely
0
0
6
7
8
10
31
Not rarely
0
6
0
10
4
3
23
in mathematics
resulting in dislikes
Emotional
empathy
Effect of dispositional empathy on Students Academic Performance
Pass Fail
Total
Chi-square
Source: field survey 2016-Results are based on nonempty rows and columns in each innermost subtable,
*. The Chi-square statistic is significant at the 1%, 5% and 10% level respectively.
Table 3 gives a 4 by 6 contingency Pearson chi-square independence test between
whether effect of SDE on AP is dependent on their dislike in studying mathematics.
Independent variable on students’ response is based on whether the effect is based on
not at all, sometimes, rarely and not rarely the claim under discussion. Students DE on AP
is categorized on the same grade interpretation-Excellent, Very good, good, credit, pass
or fail.
The study sought to investigation the hypothesis that
Dispositional empathy on student Academic Performance (AP) is independent
On emotional empathy resulting in engagement in mathematics.
Against
Dispositional empathy on student Academic Performance (AP) is independent
On emotional empathy resulting in engagement in mathematics.
At a significance level of
, a decision precision level of
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STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
A Pearson independent chi square is computed using an SPSS output estimator
as:
∑
∑
(
)
That is:
with the number of degrees of freedom given by
( – )( – )
.
The critical region for the test at
rejecting the
significance level is the probability of
. hence the computed chi-square at 15 d.f is given as
The study realized a significance chi-square test at
respectively since SPSS calculated
.
This is consistent with the traditional critical region defined by
against the degree of
freedom 15
We fail to reject
evidence to reject
, hence it is statistically significant. We have insufficient
.
24.999
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STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
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It is concluded here however that, Dispositional empathy on student Academic
Performance (AP) is independent of students' emotional empathy response. Again, the
fact that a student see mathematics as difficult to understand as a result of emotional
empathy doesn’t mean he or she can’t pass mathematics evaluated lesson. That is, a
student emotional status doesn’t guarantee passing with excellent, very good, good,
credit, pass or fail etc.
The graph below is a pictorial representation of the relationship between
student’s response on the nature of mathematics performance and students’
dispositional emotional empathy.
Figure 2: A line graph on effect of SDE and their Academic Performance (AP)
Figure 3 shows a line graph on effect of SDE based on their emotion response and their
Academic Performance (AP). Majority of students who responded somehow seem to be
dominantly performing relatively high on pass-failure grade.
Figure 3: A pie chart showing Effect of SDE on their Academic Performance (AP)
European Journal of Alternative Education Studies - Volume 2 │ Issue 1 │ 2017
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Isaac Owusu-Darko, Winnifred Ansah-Hughes, Robert Akpalu
STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
Students’ emotional disposition can have adverse effect on their academic performance.
The pie chart in figure 2 shows the cross section of the performance of students sampled
from Atiwa SHS whose AP were categorized based on their grade interpretations: Fail
(below 45%), pass(45%-54%) credit (55%-64%), Good (65%-69%), very good (70%-79%)
and excellent (80-100)%. Records of their performance was based on their average
terminal grade recorded in end of term exams. Majority of the students fall within the
credit range score whiles relatively closed are those passing and failing constituting
21.52% of the total respondents.
6. Conclusion
It is concluded here however that, Mathematics is seen by “tiwa SHS students’ as
difficult and can have negative emotional disposition about the conceptual engagement
of mathematical contents.
The study’s hypothetical test of students’ emotional empathy (SEE) is
independent of students' mathematical engagement reflective of their Academic
Performance (AP). It was seen that, the fact that a student see mathematics as difficult to
understand as a result of emotional empathy doesn’t mean he or she can’t pass
mathematics evaluated lesson. That is, a student emotional status doesn’t guarantee
passing with excellent, very good, good, credit, pass or fail etc. The performance is
clustered around
, eventhough, weak. Few had a distinctive grade of good, very
good and excellent. Again, the study realized a significance chi-square test at
respectively. It is concluded however that, to some extent,
students emotional empathy (SEE) can results in dislike in mathematics engagement
during mathematical lessons.
7. Recommendations
After careful analyses of the study variables, we recommend the following to Education
Services (e.g. GES), mathematics educators, students and future researchers where
applicable.
1. Teachers should try as much as possible to satisfy students’ affective domain when
considering lesson objectives, methodology and evaluation of mathematical lessons
as suggested by Bloom et al (1957) taxonomy for instructional learning and
supported by the recommendations of Owusu-Darko et al (2017).
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STUDENTS EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONAL EMPATHY ON
MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
2. Students should not be stressed up in the school or in the house with emotional
indicative variables that could trigger students’ emotions and affection in the
classroom especially when students are preparing for mathematical lessons.
3. There exist confounding significant effect of certain performance qualitative
indicator variables that can disposition students in Mathematical engagement (such
as gender, cognition, perceptions etc) as supported by the findings of Owusu-Darko
et al, (2017). Some of these cases could be attributed to their dispositional imbalances
that are inherent in the cover of their own sleeves such as emotions, cognitions,
perception and psychological status desired to meet mathematical lessons etc and
mathematics educators need to be on the lookout.
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MATHEMATICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
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