Analysing Primary Students’ Performance in Hots and Lot
Mathematics Questions According to Gender
Suffiah Jamel and Subadrah Madhawa Nair
*
Faculty of Education and Liberal Studies, City University Malaysia, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Keywords: HOTS, LOTS, Mathematics Test, Primary School, Gender, Malaysia.
Abstract: Many studies indicate that primary school students face problems in answering Higher Order Thinking Skills
(HOTS) mathematics questions compared to Lower-Order Thinking Skills (LOTS). The objective of this
study is to investigate primary school students’ performance in answering HOTS and LOTS mathematics
questions according to gender. A descriptive research design was employed in this study to collect quantitative
data. The mathematics test was administered in the study and used to measure the students’ performance in
HOTS and LOTS questions. The sample of the study consists of 50 primary school students in Petaling Jaya,
Malaysia. The data was analyzed using SPSS Programme for Windows version 25. The findings indicate that
there is no significant difference between the male and female students in their performance for both LOTS
and HOTS mathematics questions. However, this research only involves participants from one primary
school, further research should include a larger sample for better generalization.
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) skills have
been hotly debated since Malaysia joined PISA in
2009. The Malaysian government has decided to join
PISA to evaluate and improve the country's education
system. Many changes have taken place since
Malaysia joined PISA. One of them is creating a new
development plan. This is to produce a generation that
thinks outside the box. They want to produce students
that can think higher or commonly known as HOTS.
HOTS is a thought process that required students to
think outside of the box by manipulating information
and ideas that have been given, making it a new
approach and implications (Gunawan, 2012).The
implementation of HOTS is a challenge for students
and teachers in today’s teaching and learning. The
learning of school mathematics today is still far from
high-level thinking skills (Aleksius, 2017). She added
that all the HOTS skills questions in mathematics can
only be realized if the learners are able to design
mathematics learning well and more on the
interwoven way of learning mathematics and apply
mathematical knowledge in existing mathematical
learning. This relates to the techniques of questioning
and answering the questions during the lesson.
1.2 Research Questions
1. Is there a significant difference in students’ mean
score for answering LOTS mathematics questions
according to gender?
2. Is there a significant difference in students’ mean
score for answering HOTS mathematics questions
according to gender?
2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1 Higher Order Thinking Skills
(HOTS) in Mathematics
High Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) or known as
critical thinking is a process of thinking of students in
a higher cognitive level that is developed from
various cognitive concepts and methods and learning
taxonomies such as the method of problem solving,
bloom taxonomy, and the taxonomy of learning,
teaching, and assessment (Aleksius, 2017).
Jamel, S. and Nair, S.
Analysing Primary Students’ Performance in Hots and Lot Mathematics Questions According to Gender.
DOI: 10.5220/0012508300003792
Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
In Proceedings of the 1st Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR 2023), pages 811-814
ISBN: 978-989-758-687-3
Proceedings Copyright © 2024 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda.
811

Mathematics is an important subject to explore
students' creativity because Mathematics is closely
related to creative thinking. It plays an important and
unique role in the development of students’ creative
learning. The fostering of students’ creativity through
mathematical activities is fundamental in the learning
process. Based on the important role of classroom
learning in the development of students’ thinking
abilities, it is necessary to explore further how
teachers can systematically cultivate students’
creativity in mathematics classrooms (Zhang et al.,
2020). The identification of key competency
indicators in mathematics is critical, as it may provide
assessment opportunities that allow for early
identification of and intervention for students most
likely to be at risk for lagging in mathematics
achievement. Even so, only a few studies have sought
to investigate the relationship between certain
preschool mathematics competencies and later
mathematics achievement, and whether specific
competencies are predictive of later mathematics
achievement (Nguyen et al., 2016).
Problem solving skills have an important role in
learning mathematics as an initial ability for students
in formulating concepts and capital success for
students in solving mathematics problems (Aleksius,
2017). Problem solving is a part of a very important
mathematics curriculum because in the learning
process and completion, students may gain
experience using the knowledge and skills they
already have to apply to non-routine problem solving.
KSSR (Primary School Standard Curriculum) is the
result of improvements and revisions to The
Integrated Primary School Curriculum (KBSR) that
has been implemented almost three decades in
Malaysia. The KSSR design contains six important
components mentioned as a backbone (MOE, 2013).
These pillars are introduced to complement all the
important aspects that need to be developed in a
student balanced and harmonious individual. These
pillars are communication; spirituality, attitudes, and
values; humanity; science and technology; physical
development and aesthetics; and personal skills. In
developing KSSR, Malaysian Ministry of education
has created a formative and summative assessment
system that prioritizes student progress from one level
to another. Student achievement is not compared to
other students. Figure 1 below shows the six pillars
contained in DSKP (Primary School Standard-Based
Curriculum) Mathematics Year 5.
Figure 1: Six Pillars in National Curriculum Framework.
This new curriculum is based on some pre-set criteria.
Among them is to make sure all students pass the set
standards. Similarly, with the determination of
knowledge, skills and values that need to be clearly
measured through the thinking carried out
continuously. Next the teacher can analyze and make
follow-up actions so that students achieve the set
standards (Abdullah et al., 2019).
KPM is confident of the implementation of KSSR can
raise the standards of the national curriculum to be
able to compete and standing with global education
also ensures future generations are supplied with
knowledge, skills and values relevant to needs and
challenges 21st century and able to form the 1st
generation of Malaysia towards achieving the country
forward by 2020. (MOE, 2013).
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2.2 Mathematics Achievement
According to Gender
According to Jaafar et al. (2020), the level of
motivation towards mathematics between the gender
did not show any difference significant. The mean
score of the level of motivation between male and
female students did not show significant differences.
Female students always show much better motivation
and better achievement in mathematics especially in
TIMSS and PISA. In a study conducted by Alhassora
et al. (2017), gender is not a barrier factor in
mathematics achievement unless the students
themselves are less motivated, less interested, have
negative perceptions of mathematics and fail to
master the basics concepts of mathematics. In
addition, the latest PISA 2018 report also reported an
achievement gap between male students and female
students in performance in mathematics.
3 METHODOLOGY
This study uses descriptive research design. The
study was conducted at National Primary School,
which is situated in the Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Malaysia. The population is about 200 students aged
between 10 to 11 years old, enrolled in the academic
year 2020. Purposive sampling is used to select 50
samples. The sample comprised of 25 male and 25
female.
The mathematics test was used as an instrument to
collect quantitative data. The mathematics test
consists of 40% of LOTS questions and 60% of
HOTS questions based on revised Bloom’s
Taxonomy (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). The
students were given 40 mathematics multiple choice
questions to be completed within 60 minutes. The
students’ answers were marked by a mathematics
teacher based on the HOTS and LOTS questions. All
the students’ scores for the LOTS and HOTS
questions were changed to 100% for the purpose of
analysis.
4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
RQ1: Is there a significant difference in students’
mean score for answering LOTS mathematics
questions according to gender?
Table 1: Comparison of LOTS questions between male and female students in their mathematics test.
Group N Mean
Std.
Deviation
Mean
Difference
t-value df p-value
Male 25 77.53 10.98
-5.1 1.520 48 .170
Female 25 71.52 16.44
Level of significance is at p<0.05
Findings in Table 1 show that the mean number of
mathematics LOTS questions for the male students is
higher (Mean=77.53, SD=10.98) than the female
students (Mean=71.52, SD=16.44). Findings from the
independent samples t-test show that there is no
significant difference between the male and female
students in answering their LOTS mathematics
questions (Mean difference = -5.1, t= 1.520, df= 48,
p=0.170). These findings are supported by a study
that conducted by Ahmad et al. (2017) that revealed
gender is not a factor that is a barrier to increase in the
level of mathematics achievement unless the student
himself is less motivated, lack of interest, a negative
attitude towards mathematics and not mastering the
basics of mathematics.
RQ2: Is there a significant difference in students’
mean score for answering HOTS mathematics
questions according to gender?
Table 2: Comparison of HOTS questions between male and female students in their mathematics test.
Group N Mean
Std.
Deviation
Mean
Difference
t-value df p-value
Male 25 54.0 15.29
-1.17 -.242 48 .251
Female 25 55.17 18.72
Level of significance is at p<0.05
Analysing Primary Students’ Performance in Hots and Lot Mathematics Questions According to Gender
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Results in Table 2 show that the mean score for HOTS
mathematics for female students is higher
(Mean=55.17, SD=18.72) than the male students
(Mean=54.0, SD=15.29). Findings from the
independent samples t-test show that there is no
significant difference in students’ mean score for
answering HOTS mathematics questions according to
gender (Mean difference=-1.17, t=-.242, df=48,
p=0.251). Therefore, the findings answer Research
Question 3. These results do not support findings by
Hidayanti et al (2020) that male students cannot find
good solutions to solve HOTS questions.
5 CONCLUSION
Results of the study clearly indicate that students
performed significantly better in answering LOTS
questions than HOTS questions. This is because
HOTS questions are more difficult than LOTS
questions and require students to apply knowledge,
analyse, evaluate and create. On the other hand,
LOTS questions only require students to remember
and understand. The findings of the current study also
revealed that there is no significant difference
between female students and male students in
answering HOTS and LOTS mathematics questions.
The result did not show much of the difference
between the male and the female students in their
performance on HOTS and LOTS questions.
It is also important to note that there are limitations in
this study. First, the sample size of this study only
consists of 50 standard 5 students in one primary
school. As such, it is hoped that future studies will
involve a larger sample from different primary
schools in other provinces in Malaysia. In addition,
this study is only based on mathematics questions.
It is suggested that future researchers may conduct
similar studies on four levels of HOTS questions
which are applying, analyzing, evaluating, and
creating to obtain more comprehensive data on
students’ HOTS mathematical questions. In addition,
it is suggested that future researchers can conduct
quasi-experimental studies on how to improve
students’ HOTS mathematics questions and prepare
them with the essential skills that will help them in
their 21
st
century learning.
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