Abstract
Many research indicated that more and more students choose to drop out of mathematics-related subjects during university study, especially in the western context. Besides the difficulty of mathematics content, first-year university students also face issues of the transition period. Identifying the impact of first-year university students' belief factors on their persistence in mathematics study needed further research.
 
 This study served as a pilot study; it structured the framework of first-year university students’ mathematics-related beliefs in relation to students’ persistence on the further mathematics study. A two-stage approach of using PLS-SEM to assessing the conceptual framework was introduced in detail. The relationships of dimensions of students’ epistemological beliefs about mathematics, self-efficacy, self-regulated learning strategies and perceptions about learning environment were assessed. This study provides the feasibility for future follow-up studies to examine mathematics-related beliefs and intentions to continue learning among university students on a larger scale.
Highlights
Research related to students‘ mathematical related beliefs is receiving increasing attention
The results showed that first-year students‘ mathematics-related beliefs are interrelated, which fit the theoretical foundation indicated
The psychosocial environment showed no effects on their persistence of learning mathematics in their future studies and self-regulated learning strategies
Summary
Research related to students‘ mathematical related beliefs is receiving increasing attention. Realising learners‘ beliefs is important to understand their thought processes, learning approaches, and changes of attitude (Schommer, 1998). Rach and Heinze (2017) pointed out that the dropout rate of undergraduate students in mathematics has been increasing, and this phenomenon is prevalent in western countries. With the general acceptance of this perception, seeking what affects students' persistence in mathematics learning is significant and how to decrease the dropout rate are needed to be researched. They suggested that the degree of student adaptation during the transitional learning process determines whether they will continue, postpone or dropout of mathematics learning. Identifying the effect and relationship among different types of beliefs is the foundation for removing obstacles in learning mathematics and forming effective learning strategies
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