A Study of Basic Knowledge of Mathematics of the Students Majoring in Mathematics

Abstract

     The research aimed to study basic knowledge of mathematics of the first-year students majoring in mathematics at the University of Champasak and Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University in the academic year 2015. The research instrument was an objective test to measure basic knowledge of mathematics. The instrument of 60 items created by the researchers to measure basic knowledge of mathematics had a difficulty value of 0.20-0.80 and a discrimination value of 0.20-0.72. Population in the study was the first-year students numbering 85 from the University of Champasak and Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University. Statistics used were mean, percentage, and content analysis. The study found that basic knowledge of mathematics of the students from the University of Champasak accounted for 38.93% and of those from Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University accounted for 37.62%. An overall result of the total students was 38.28%. Based on the content analysis, it was found that the first three areas which should be first improved were calculus, vector, order and series.