Math Self-concept Research Articles

Predicting Marginalized Students’ Mathematics Achievement in High School

ABSTRACT The current study is a conceptual replication of the influence of an advanced educational opportunity and several student propensities to learn on a college-readiness assessment for mathematics (ACT scores) among an important and under-studied group of students. We focused on a sample of predominantly Black students from economically-disadvantaged homes in the U.S. (n = 329; 80% Black, 59% female, 66% whose parents had a high-school diploma or less). Accelerated course placement (high-school math course in 8th grade) was a unique predictor of math ACT scores above and beyond prior math achievement and other variables (B = 1.5). In line with a fade-out model, executive function skill in 6th grade was not a unique predictor with other predictors in the model. In line with emerging findings with marginalized students, mathematics self-concept in 6th grade was also not a unique predictor. Finally, students’ mathematics achievement at age 4 predicted their math ACT scores in 12th grade (B = .69), as did their middle-school mathematics achievement in number, algebra, and geometry (B = .43–.67), which mediated the relation between mathematics achievement at age 4 and math ACT scores. Findings highlight the importance of advanced academic opportunities, which national data indicates marginalized students are less likely to receive, the diminishing role of individual differences in executive function skill as children develop domain knowledge, the diminished role of math self-concept for predicting achievement among marginalized students, and the strong stability in math achievement.

Father educational involvement and Chinese elementary school children's math anxiety: the chain mediating role of growth mindset and math self-concept

Father educational involvement and Chinese elementary school children's math anxiety: the chain mediating role of growth mindset and math self-concept

“Math is for life. We use it everyday:” examining memorable messages parents give to their children about math education and predictors of their own math self-anxiety, math self-concept, and math self-efficacy

ABSTRACT This study explored various aspects of the memorable messages about math education that parents shared with their college aged children and parents’ own experiences with math education. Findings revealed that the memorable messages parents recalled sending to their children about math education focused on encouragement, advice, necessity of math, how math skills don’t define you, and math being logical. Memorable message themes were not predicted by parents’ beliefs about their own math anxiety, math self-concept, or math self-efficacy. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Association between ability tracking and student’s academic and non-academic outcomes: Empirical evidence from junior high schools in rural China

Ability tracking, a practice of grouping students into different classrooms based on their test scores, is prevalent in schools around the world. However, evidence on the effects of ability tracking on students’ learning outcomes remains mixed. Drawing on a longitudinal dataset of 9170 students across 119 rural junior high schools from 23 counties in two provinces of China, this paper examines how ability tracking affects students' math score, math academic self-concept, and math anxiety. We find that ability tracking had no statistically significant effect on either students’ academic or non-academic outcomes. Sub-group analyses by high and low-ability classrooms revealed similar results for math scores and math self-concept. However, ability tracking helped reduce the math anxiety of high-ability classroom students as they experienced a lower value added in their anxiety score by 0.103 SD (p < 0.05) relative to students in schools that do not practice ability tracking. Furthermore, heterogeneous analyses revealed that ability tracking is associated with a lower value added in math score of low-ability boarding students by 0.168 SD (p < 0.05) relative to non-boarding students in comparison schools.

Mathematics self-concept moderates the relation between cognitive functions and mathematical skills in primary school children

In this paper, we investigated the contribution of both cognitive and affective factors to mathematical skills. In particular, we looked at the protective role of self-concept for mathematical learning and performance. In a field study, we tested the relation of math self-concept and short-term visuo-spatial working memory to the mathematical abilities of second- grade primary school children in Italy (N = 105). Measures included the “Test for the evaluation of calculating and problem-solving abilities” (AC-MT 6–11), the backward Corsi blocks test (Battery for Visuo-Spatial Memory), and the mathematics self-concept sub-scale of the Self-Description Questionnaire-I (SDQ-I, Italian version). As expected, correlation and moderated regression analyses showed that mathematics self-concept and working memory both positively predict mathematical operations and numeracy, but not accuracy. Simple slope analysis confirmed our moderation hypothesis, with working memory predicting mathematical abilities at low levels of math self-concept, but not at medium and high levels. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Kindergarten children’s math anxiety and its relationship with mathematical performance (Ansiedad matemática en niños y niñas de kínder y su relación con el rendimiento matemático)

ABSTRACT There is limited evidence on the occurrence of math anxiety among kindergarten children. This study sought to measure the occurrence of math anxiety in this group by adapting a math anxiety scale to Chilean children and evaluating the association between math anxiety and mathematical performance. The sample included 124 kindergarten children (age M = 5.69) enrolled in Chilean public schools. The results confirmed the two-factor structure of the original scale (worry and somatization). Notably, outcomes pertaining to math anxiety did not show gender differences or an association with math self-concept. A multiple regression analysis revealed that math anxiety is a significant predictor of mathematical skills, even after controlling for gender, age and math self-concept. These results underscore the significance of tackling math anxiety during early education to foster early mathematical learning in children.

Are gender-science stereotypes barriers for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics? Exploring when, how, and to whom in an experimentally-controlled setting.

Based on Social Cognitive Career Theory principles, the present study sought to investigate whether stereotype threat experiences could act as a barrier and reduce the persistence of women in math-intensive activities. More specifically, we assessed whether the experimental activation of stereotypes about women's lower math capabilities affected the performance, persistence, and self-selected difficulty of engineering students in a math task which required sustained effort. We also evaluated the relationships between these effects and the participants' pre-testing gender-science stereotypes and math self-concept. A sample of 340 engineering students (175 and 165 self-identified as males and females, respectively) were recruited and randomly assigned to a control (Con) or stereotype threat (StA) condition to form four similarly sized groups. All participants rated their self-concept in four academic domains (math, chemistry, physics, and coding), completed the gender-science Implicit Association Test, and a "reading comprehension task" that served to promote the stereotype threat manipulation immediately before facing a modified version of the Math Effort Task (M-MET). We observed that, in the control condition, M-MET performance, self-selected difficulty, and persistence were similar in female and male participants, independent of their gender-science implicit stereotypes but correlated to their math self-concept scores. In contrast, the StA condition triggered opposite effects in female and male students, so they showed decreased/enhanced M-MET performance and self-selected difficulty, respectively. This experimental condition also resulted in enhanced persistence of the male students without affecting the number of trials completed by female students. These effects were correlated with the strength of the participants' gender-science implicit stereotypes but not with their math self-concept scores. In fact, as revealed by finer-grain analyses, stereotype threat only had a significant impact on individuals harboring stereotypical gender-science implicit associations. Therefore, it is concluded that: (1) stereotypes can promote differences between male and female engineering students in their performance, self-confidence, and persistence in math-related activities; (2) These effects seem to be more prominent in individuals implicitly perceiving science as a masculine domain. The relevance of these findings to explain women's enhanced abandonment rates of math-intensive studies is discussed.

PRESERVICE TEACHERS’ SELF-CONCEPT, SELF-EFFICACY, AND ATTITUDE: ITS IMPLICATIONS TO MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT

This correlational study investigated the relationship between preservice teachers’ math self-concept, self-efficacy, and attitude with their math achievement. Participants were chosen using stratified random sampling from BEEd and BSEd mathematics majors (n = 117). From the findings, preservice teachers had moderate to high math self-concept, self-efficacy, and attitude. These variables were statistically correlated with each other and with math achievement. The inclusion of training programs for developing the preservice teachers’ math self-concept, self-efficacy, and attitude, as well as designing curricula that engage and encourage them to do mathematics and problem-solving, must be considered among teacher education institutions.

Predicting students’ math self-concepts to explain gender differences through teachers’ judgments and students’ perceived teachers’ judgments

The present study examined to what extent teachers’ judgments of students’ aptitude and students’ perceived teachers’ judgments explain gender differences in the early development of students’ math self-concepts. A sample of N = 519 elementary school students was investigated at four measurement occasions from the end of third until the end of fourth grade. We assessed students’ self-concepts and their perceived teachers’ judgments of their aptitude in math. Teachers (N = 27) judged students’ aptitude in math and provided students’ math grades. First, we found significant gender differences in students’ math self-concepts, teachers’ judgments, and students’ perceived teachers’ judgments, but not in students’ math grades. Second, structural equation models showed that teachers’ judgments of students’ aptitude as well as students’ perceived teachers’ judgments of students’ aptitude longitudinally predicted students’ self-concepts. Mediation analyzes demonstrated that teachers’ judgments and students’ perceived teachers’ judgments contributed to gender differences in students’ math self-concepts. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

The Relations Among Math Anxiety, Math Self-Construct, and Math Achievement in Older and Underserved Minority Students

The present study investigated the relations among math anxiety, math self-concept, and math self-efficacy on math achievement in older students and underserved ethnic minorities (i.e., Blacks and Hispanics) in higher education. These two groups have been largely neglected in the math self-construct literature. The results showed that older students reported higher math learning anxiety and lower math self-efficacy. Underserved minorities reported higher levels of both math learning and math evaluation anxiety. These math measures were related to lower math achievement (i.e., math SAT, math GPA, and the number of math classes completed). Using latent profile analysis, three distinct math profiles were identified. The high math anxiety and low self-efficacy profile was associated with older students, compared to students whose profile was average in math anxiety and math self-efficacy, or low in math anxiety and high in math self-efficacy. These findings challenge researchers and educators to devise interventions and employ pedagogical techniques to bolster older students’ and underserved ethnic minorities’ math self-construct and academic achievement in math.

Gender Differences in Math and Science Academic Self-Concepts and the Association With Female Climate in 8th Grade Classrooms

Although women’s representation in STEM fields and occupations has increased, science and math continue to be stereotyped as male domains. This paper links psychological and sociological explanations for gendered disparities in STEM by examining the relationship between the local “micro-situational” female learning environment and the gender gap in academic self-concept in math and science. We applied hybrid models to TIMSS 2015 data comprised of a pseudo-panel of repeated measures for individual student and peer achievement, academic self-concept, utility value, and interest-enjoyment value in math/science (at age 14). We analyzed data from three countries, including a subsample of students who were taught by the same teacher in both math and science, thus eliminating unobserved teacher heterogeneity. Results indicate that female peer climate in the classroom is important for understanding how girls’ self-concept in math/science is formed, even though it was unrelated to the gender gap.

Numerical Literacy and Math Self-Concept of Children with Special Needs in Inclusive Elementary Schools

Numerical Literacy and Math Self-Concept of Children with Special Needs in Inclusive Elementary Schools

No Loss, No Gain? COVID-19 school closures and Swiss fifth-graders' competencies and self-concept in mathematics&#x0D;

Abstract: COVID-19-related school closures in spring 2020 interrupted learning routines and posed a great challenge for students' competencies acquisition and self-concepts. Concerns about possible learning losses due to school closures, especially for disadvantaged students, are justified, but the currently available empirical evidence is still scarce, varies greatly with regard to context, and neglects reciprocal effects of competencies and self-concept. To address these shortcomings, this paper first provides insights on the effect that the 8 weeks of school closures had on Swiss primary school students' math competencies. IRT-based math tests were used to cross-sectionally compare data from 1,299 students in Grade 5 in late spring 2020 shortly after the reopening of schools with data from a previous year's cohort ( n = 11,314) using propensity score matching. The results revealed no significant differences in math competencies and no evidence of an increase in inequality when children with not German (vs German) as their first language were studied. Second, changes in math self-concepts in the school year 2019/20, when the pandemic first hit, as well as reciprocal effects of math competencies and math self-concept were assessed longitudinally ( n = 1,299) using random intercept cross-lagged panel models based on three measurement points. Results showed that higher math self-concept and positive change in math self-concept over the time of school closures were related to higher learning gains. Different development trajectories for children with German (vs not German) first language emerged. The study therefore fosters a better understanding of the effect that pandemic-induced school closures had on learning and relativizes the feared negative effects on math competencies caused by short school closures.

The big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept and interest in first- and third-grade students

BackgroundThe big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) postulates that class-average achievement has a negative effect on students’ academic self-concept. Research examining the BFLPE with elementary school students is scarce, especially with first graders. AimsThis study examined the BFLPE of class-average achievement on academic self-concept and interest in the math domain with first and third graders. SampleParticipants were Luxembourgish first graders (N = 5057) and third graders (N = 4925). MethodsA multilevel, doubly latent approach was used to assess a BFLPE model containing achievement (as the predictor) and ASC and interest (as outcomes) in the math domain. ResultsThe BFLPE on math self-concept was supported in both grades, whereas the BFLPE on math interest was supported only for third graders. In both grades, larger effect sizes were observed for the BFLPE on math self-concept than on math interest. ConclusionOur results suggest that the social comparisons underlying the BFLPE play an important role in the formation of math self-concept in both grades, but they play a less substantial—and probably later—role in the formation of math interest in elementary school.

How to Continue? New Approaches to Investigating the Effects of Adaptive Math Learning Programs on Students' Performance, Self-Concept, and Anxiety.

Math learning programs were expected to revolutionize students' learning, but their effects so far have mostly been disappointing. Following the debate about why to continue research on math learning programs, we aimed to reformulate this question into how to continue this research. Investigations to date have neither considered a sufficiently wide set of outcome variables nor differentiated between performance measures (e.g., measuring addition and subtraction performance separately) and affective-motivational variables. Moreover, as students can only benefit from a program if they use it, researchers need to take practice behavior into account. Thus, we investigated whether the adaptive arithmetic learning program Math Garden fostered students' addition and subtraction performance, their math self-concept, and a reduction of their math anxiety. We also investigated how practice behavior (practiced tasks/weeks) affected these outcomes. We used a randomized pretest-posttest control group design with 376 fifth-grade students in Germany. Students in the experimental condition practiced with Math Garden for 20.7 weeks and had an increase in math self-concept. The more subtraction tasks the students practiced, the more they improved their subtraction performance. We found no effects on math anxiety. The results are discussed in terms of providing a starting point for new directions in future research.

Spanish adaptation of the Math and Me Survey in primary education: Measuring second and fourth graders’ attitudes toward mathematics

The English version of the “Math and Me Survey” was developed to measure mathematical attitudes of elementary students. This study was used to translate, validate and examine the attitudes of Spanish students in the second and fourth grades of primary school. The translation-back translation procedure was adopted. A total of 81 students (42 boys and 39 girls), with a mean age of 8.19 years completed the Spanish survey. The psychometric properties of the adapted survey were examined by internal consistency, reliability and factorial structure. The exploratory factor analysis of the 18-item adapted questionnaire provided a two-factor structure, similar to the original questionnaire: mathematical self-concept and enjoyment of mathematics. For each factor, the Spanish survey had high internal consistency, respectively ω = .89 and ω =.91. However, the confirmatory factor analysis did not show overall good fit. The adapted survey should be interpreted with caution, suggesting a need for further investigation to be used as an effective tool for evaluating math self-concept and enjoyment in a Spanish-speaking context. In addition, the results of its application indicated that (1) second-graders had a better mathematics self-concept and enjoy mathematics more than fourth-graders, and (2) boys had a greater mathematics self-concept than girls, but girls enjoyed this subject more in second grade.

Numerical Literacy and Math Self-Concept: Children-Friendly Learning in Inclusive Elementary Schools

&lt;p style="text-align: justify;"&gt;Numerical literacy refers to the knowledge and ability to use various numbers and basic mathematical symbols to solve problems, while math self-concept means the assessment of students’ skills, abilities, enjoyment, and interest in the subject. However, children with special needs and normal students in inclusive Elementary Schools are yet to sufficiently acquire learning that accommodates literacy and maths self-concept. This causes a need for the implementation of a children-friendly learning process. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the factors influencing the numeracy level and math self-concept, and also explore the obstacles in implementing children-friendly learning in order to facilitate students’ abilities. A qualitative method was applied because of in-depth data exploration regarding children with special needs, while the utilized instruments include tests, questionnaires, and interviews. Both the data collected and the analysis are qualitative, which are obtained through excavation, identification, and description. Consequently, this paper was able to (a) describe the factors influencing the numeracy level and math self-concept in inclusive elementary schools; (b) explore the barriers to implementing children-friendly learning; and (c) identify the relationship between students’ numeracy and math self-concept.&lt;/p&gt;

Extending the reciprocal effects model of math self-concept and achievement: Long-term implications for end-of-high-school, age-26 outcomes, and long-term expectations.

Extending the reciprocal effects model of math self-concept and achievement: Long-term implications for end-of-high-school, age-26 outcomes, and long-term expectations.

Formation of academic self-concept and intrinsic value within and across three domains: Extending the reciprocal internal/external frame of reference model.

The reciprocal internal/external frame of reference (RI/E) combines two models of academic self-concept formation, namely the reciprocal effects model (REM) and the internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model. The REM assumes reciprocal relations between achievement and academic self-concept. The I/E model assumes contrast effects between achievement and self-concept across math and verbal domains. The RI/E model can be extended to more school subjects than one math and one verbal domain, and to other motivational constructs. We examined an extended RI/E model considering achievement, academic self-concept, and intrinsic value related to math, German and English. The sample consisted of 1939 German secondary school students. The three measurement waves covered Grades 5 to 7. Cross-lagged panel models were used to analyse the data. Within domains, there were reciprocal relations between achievement and academic self-concept but only unidirectional relations between former achievements and later intrinsic values. Across domains, there were significant negative relations between former math achievement and later self-concepts and intrinsic values in German and English, and between former German and English achievements and later self-concept and intrinsic value in math. These findings imply contrast effects across math and verbal domains. The pattern of relations among constructs was found to be generalizable across gender and school tracks and stable across measurement waves. The study provides further support for the validity of the RI/E model and its extension to English as another school subject and intrinsic value as another motivational construct.

The impact of undergraduate students’ mathematics anxiety and self-concept on their self-regulated learning and academic achievement

Several types of research showed math anxiety as the learning outcome, but another showed that as the predictor variable. Math anxiety was predicted based on other variables, such as self-regulated learning and self-concept. Self-regulated learning is associated with academic achievement. This study aimed to obtain valid and significant indicators of each latent variable and to develop the structural model of those latent variables on students’ academic achievement. The research used an interval scale questionnaire to measure all latent variables except academic achievement. The PLS-SEM was applied by SmartPLS software. The structural model showed that math anxiety directly affected academic achievement but indirectly affected self-regulated learning, which is self-concept as the mediating variable. For students with low math anxiety, their self-regulated learning tends to be high by controlling their self-concept in math.