Exploration of explanatory factors underlying teachers’ perception of learning difficulties in mathematics in interaction with student performances

Abstract

This study project contributes to documenting the subject of learning difficulties in mathematics [1-4]. In this research, we aimed to verify what are the main explanatory factors underlying teachers’ perception of learning difficulties in mathematics and in relation to student performance in a problem-solving test. To meet the objectives of the study, we implemented a correlational quantitative data analysis devise with the participation of 262 primary school students. Regression analyzes were performed. The results of the analyzes show that the performance in solving a written mathematics questionnaire is explained mainly by socio-demographic variables associated with the students and by factual variables relating to the conditions for taking the questionnaires. Moreover, the teacher’s perception of student performance in mathematics is mainly explained by variables directly related to the student or to the teacher’s vision of the student’s potential for success at school.