CHANGES IN THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE POTENTIAL VALUES OF MATHEMATICS IN RELATION TO THE HUMAN LIFE CYCLES

The role of mathematical education in everyday life, professional activities, attitude towards the role of mathematical knowledge in the labour market is widely discussed in the literature. In order to reflect the views of the respondents on the issues of mathematical potential values of in relation to the human life cycles two types of surveys were conducted: Riga Technical University and Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies students as well as adult survey. The respondents had to assess the given statements by expressing their approval or disapproval on a 4-stage Likert scale: strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree. The research data analysed by the respondents' professional field, self-evaluation of mathematical knowledge and skills, mathematics learning experience as well as in relation to the needs of different human life cycles.

Research results show that motivation is a key element of successful mathematics learning and positive attitude to mathematics make progress and better achievements. According to the relation between different life cycles and educational needs, at the age of 18-30, education is usually linked to career prospects and employment prospects: 54.7% perceive the need for mathematical knowledge in today’s labour market conditions, but 18.2% of respondents deny the connection between mathematical knowledge and employment, which undeniably reduces student motivation for achieving good results. Results show that mathematics has a high status – a lot of respondents answered that the motivation to improve math skills is a personal development. Most of them are from age groups “41-50” and “51-60”. 58.5% of respondents answered that mathematics knowledge influence their everyday life.