Factors Influencing Mathematics Achievement of University Students of Social Sciences

Alenka Brezavšček,Gregor Rus,Janja Jerebic,Anja Žnidaršič

doi:10.3390/math8122134

Alenka Brezavšček, Gregor Rus + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/math8122134

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Abstract

The paper aims to investigate the main factors influencing the mathematics achievement of social sciences university students in Slovenia. A conceptual model was derived where three categories of variables were taken into account: attitude towards mathematics and math anxiety, engagement in learning activities, and attitude towards involving technology in learning mathematics. Data were collected for seven consecutive academic years and analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results showed a very high coefficient of determination for mathematics achievement (0.801), indicating that variables “Perceived Level of Math Anxiety”, “Self-Engagement in Mathematics Course at University”, and “Perceived Usefulness of Technology in Learning Mathematics”, together, explain 80.1% of the total variance. Based on our findings, we can conclude that teaching in secondary school is a crucial determinant for success in mathematics at university. It is essential to identify the best methods for secondary school math teachers which will help them give future students better entry-level knowledge for universities. These methods will, hopefully, also improve the level of mathematics self-confidence, as well as lower the level of math anxiety, which all considerably affect the performance of students in university mathematics.

Highlights

Mathematical skills have long been recognised as essential for academic success and for efficient functioning in everyday life [1]
Since negative attitudes toward mathematics and the negative influence of math anxiety are often identified in the literature as important predictors of underachievement in mathematics, we assumed that both mathematics confidence and behavioural engagement negatively affect the perceived level of math anxiety, which negatively affects the mathematics achievement
The results showed a strong negative influence of mathematics confidence on the perceived level of math anxiety (H1a ), while the influence of behavioural engagement does not seem to be significant (H1b )

Summary

Introduction

Mathematical skills have long been recognised as essential for academic success and for efficient functioning in everyday life [1]. After reviewing publicly available databases, we found that the majority of studies on mathematical performance and achievement are focused on either primary or secondary education or both (see, e.g., [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19]). 9.5% of the respondents completed secondary school with a grade 2 (sufficient), more than half (50.7%). We checked their grades in a mathematics course in the last (fourth) year of secondary school. The average grade in mathematics in the last year of secondary school was 3.1, with a standard deviation of 0.88.

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