Abstract
The main aim of this study was to analyse possible differences in academic wellbeing on the basis of prior academic achievement in mathematics. We conceptualised wellbeing as a multidimensional construct covering both negative indicators, namely, anxiety and negative feelings, and positive indicators, namely, perceived competence, perceived utility, and mastery motivation. Success in mathematics is expected to be associated with better academic wellbeing. The sample consisted of 897 students from the fifth and sixth years of primary school (50.2% boys and 49.8% girls). Results suggested that success in mathematics is linked to a student’s academic wellbeing, in such a way that perceived competence in the subject, perception of usefulness of mathematical content, and mastery motivation was higher in students with better previous performance. Anxiety and negative feelings were also lower when success in mathematics increased. Considering the particular anxiety–self-efficacy interaction suggested by previous research, we concluded that a good way to change negative academic wellbeing would be to increase successful experiences to foster perceived competence, especially in students with high academic anxiety.
Highlights
Spanish students’ mathematics scores in the results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 report [1] did not encourage optimism about the teaching and learning process for maths in Spain
IAM is an enhanced version of the Fennema–Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales (FSS) made by Fennema and Sherman [34] with significant modifications in the scales to assess attitudes towards mathematics
Assuming that academic wellbeing is a multidimensional construct that gathers both negative and positive indicators [15], the results of this study indicated that success in mathematics is positively related to competence, perceived utility, and mastery motivation, and negatively related to negative feelings and mathematical anxiety
Summary
Spanish students’ mathematics scores in the results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 report [1] did not encourage optimism about the teaching and learning process for maths in Spain. The PISA test was carried out between April and May 2018, evaluating more than 35,943 fifteen-year-old students of the more than 370,000 of that age in Spain [2] Their mean score in mathematics was 481, significantly lower than the mean Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) score, which is 489 points. Only 6.2% and 1.1% of students from Spain achieved high levels in mathematics (five and six, respectively), which is a notable difference when compared to the OECD average, where means are 8.5% and 2.4% [1]. This result indicates a low proportion of excellent students compared to other similar countries. The proportion of students who failed to reach the basic level in maths was very similar to the OECD average (14.8%)
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