Investigating Mathematics Achievement Goals among Preservice Teachers: Inputs to Curricular Enhancement

Learning Mathematics at the tertiary level is essential among Math and non – Math preservice teachers. This provides the foundational knowledge and mental discipline to teach Math and other school subjects such as Science, Arts, Music, Social Sciences, and technical subjects. Various studies have shown that motivational constructs such as Mathematics achievement goals can influence students' achievement outcomes while learning Mathematics. Thus, this study investigated the Mathematics achievement goals among the preservice teachers. There were twelve research questions and two hypotheses that guided the study. This utilized descriptive survey design and data were collected online thru Google Forms. A sample of 147 preservice teachers from a selected university in Zamboanga City was randomly selected through proportionate and systematic sampling procedures. This study adapted the Mathematics Achievement Goals Orientation questionnaire by Mohd Rustam Mohd Rameli and Kosnin Azlina. The research instructor and subject matter experts validated this, and the subscales attained acceptable reliability coefficients during the pilot testing based on the computed Cronbach's alpha. Mean, standard deviation and Pearson – r correlation were utilized in the analysis of the data. Findings revealed that preservice adopt mastery goals more than performance goals. Results also showed that achievement goals between Math and non – Math preservice teachers are not significantly different. This study recommends that math teachers in higher education may create a learning environment that can foster mastery and performance-approach goals in Mathematics among preservice teachers.