Obstacles to learning mathematics : An interview study of what obstacles students in upper secondary school believe they encounter when studying mathematics

Sammanfattning: In this instrumental exploratory case study, students on the second largest programme in upper secondary school in Sweden, the Business Management and Economics Programme, were interviewed about what obstacles they believe they encountered when studying the second mathematics course. A first level of analysis, using a constant comparison method, resulted in 19 different obstacles. The seven obstacles that were uttered by the highest proportion of students were: new content, more difficult, more work needed, new tests, faster pace, online school and problems prioritising. In a second level of analysis, an axial coding, the codes were grouped into five larger categories: advanced mathematics, managing workload, novel teaching, emotion and assessment. The category that were uttered by the highest proportion of students was advanced mathematics which contained the obstacles new content, more difficult and faster pace. This study offers a base of knowledge about what obstacles students themselves express that they experience and the character of these obstacles.