Self-confidence and work effort as predictors of achievement in junior high school mathematics courses /
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
1997.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=736796261&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships of self-confidence, actual work effort as measured by homework completion rates, and the perceived importance of effort with mathematics achievement at the junior high school level. This study further investigated the interrelationships of these factors with gender on mathematics achievement. The sample included 63 males and 57 females in eighth-grade prealgebra and algebra classes. A means comparison by gender was conducted for the three independent variables and five mathematics achievement variables, which included homework grades, test grades, grade point average, semester exam, and Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test scores. Males showed more self- confidence than females (p<.05). On all other variables, there were no significant gender differences (p<.05). Correlation between pairs of variables was analyzed for all students, for females, and for males. With the exception of the TAAS test, the actual work effort variable was moderately to strongly correlated with the mathematics achievement variables. The self-confidence and perceived importance of effort variables were also correlated with mathematics achievement, but at a lower level than actual work effort. There was a gender difference found in the correlation patterns. Although both females and males showed the highest correlations between actual work effort and mathematics achievement, self-confidence generally showed higher correlations with mathematics achievement for males compared to females. Multiple regression techniques were used to find the best predictors of the mathematics achievement variables and the results were consistent with the correlations between pairs of variables. The actual work effort variable was the strongest predictor of mathematics achievement for the all students, the female, and the male groups. For females, no other predictor variable was important in the prediction models. However, for males, self-confidence was also an explanatory variable. With the exception of the TAAS test, the predictor variables explained a large portion (45% to 96%) of the variance in each of the mathematics achievement variables. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Curriculum and Instruction". |
| Physical Description: | x, 85 leaves ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilms Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references: pages 73-79. |