Abstract

Learning interest refers to the inclination of the student to acquire knowledge and skills in a particular subject. One of the determinants of the success of the learning process is learning interest. Students who have a high interest in learning will achieve good learning outcomes. There are two main factors in determining learning interest; internal and external factors. Preliminary investigations at SMP 3 Sungguminasa revealed that the learning outcomes of students in mathematics degraded from 2019 to 2021, therefore it  is necessary to research the problem further. The data mining approach can be utilized to extract important and relevant information from students' data to determine what factors affect the degradation in learning mathematics. The data population in this study were 1093 students of SMPN 3 Sungguminasa. The authors took 15% from the population as a representative sample. The research variables consist of internal factors (attention, curiosity, hobbies, intelligence, learning styles, psychological health), and external factors (school aspects, family aspects, and community aspects). Based on the proposed approach, the authors identified that the main factor causing the degradation of student interest in learning is external factors, i.e. school facilities. School facilities such as the proper media/teaching tools will determine the success of the mathematics teaching and learning process. Factors such as student hobbies, teacher discipline, home atmosphere, and  economic conditions are the other influencing factors of students' interest in learning mathematics at SMP 3 Sungguminasa.