Students’ perspectives on mathematics : An interview study of the perceived purposes of school mathematics among Swedish gymnasium students

Abstract: Mathematics is a compulsory subject throughout elementary school as well as during the first year of the gymnasium, which is Swedish secondary education for students in the age range 16 to 19. It is also prioritized higher than many other school subjects, which is obvious when looking at the amount of time it takes up or the fact that, together with Swedish and English, it makes up the three subjects students need to pass in order to graduate. Mathematics is obviously perceived to be extremely important by those in charge of the education system, and this study examines whether Swedish gymnasium students perceive the same importance. It is also examined whether the perceived purposes of mathematics differ between students on vocational tracks and those on academic tracks. The purpose of the study was to gain insights into students’ thoughts on mathematics, as well as to determine whether there were any significant differences between the thoughts of students on different tracks. These insights could be valuable to teachers and those responsible for the education system, since they offer a student perspective on learning in general and on mathematics education in particular. The data collection was done through eight group interviews with a total of 31 students, whereof 15 from vocational tracks and 16 from academic tracks. In the interviews, questions relating to the students’ perceived purposes of school mathematics were discussed. The results clearly showed that both students on vocational and academic tracks perceived mathematics education to be extremely important, and they were all of the opinion that it had to be a compulsory school subject. However, some interesting differences were found in how students on different tracks argued for its importance. During the interviews students shared many interesting perspectives on mathematics education, with encouraging as well as somewhat worrying views made visible. During the analysis of the results, some specific aspects were selected and discussed further. The results indicate that there are grounds for conducting further research within the area to seek explanations behind some of the student perspectives found in this study. It would also be highly interesting to further research the discovered differences between students on vocational and academic tracks.