Logistic regression in analyzing the determinants of university students' mathematics performance / Zuraida Jaafar ... [et al.]

Mathematics provides an effective way of building mental discipline, encourages logical reasoning, and plays a crucial role in understanding the contents of other subjects. Mathematics performance is affected by several factors, including grade, social economic status, background and many more. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors which are related to students’ mathematics performance and to identify the significant factors which affect the students’ mathematics performance of MAT133 course. This study was conducted in UiTM Negeri Sembilan, Kuala Pilah campus. 480 students were selected from various programs who had registered Pre-Calculus course (MAT133). This study employed Logistic regression analysis to test the relationship between predictor variables and the dichotomous outcome variable which is categorized as low or high achiever in the MAT133 course. About 55.7% of the students are high achievers who achieved higher than 70% marks in MAT133. The research findings reveal that students’ intake in July (OR = 2.941), male students (OR = 0.315), students who scored A+, A and A- in Modern Mathematics in SPM exam (OR = 0.340), students who had B+ and B- in Additional Mathematics in SPM (OR = 0.512) and assessment marks for MAT133 were found to have a significantly higher possibility to be high-achiever in MAT133. Acquiring strong mathematical background is a priority as a fundamental preparation for students to learn mathematics in higher institution.