Predicting academic success in mathematics : the role of self-efficacy and its sources, grade goal, and effort regulation

• Main Author: Ballada, Christine Joy Atotubo
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2017
• Subjects: Self-efficacy; Prediction of scholastic success; College students
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_doctoral/1353
• Institution: De La Salle University

Traditionally, academic success in college is predicted by intelligence and prior achievement, such as high school grades. Research has shown, however, that nonintellective factors like personality, motivation, self-regulated learning, and approaches to learning, among others, significantly influence academic success. Three of the strongest non-intellective predictors of academic success identified from a meta-analysis are self-efficacy, effort regulation and grade goal (Richardson, Abraham, & Bond, 2012). Among these non-intellective factors, self-efficacy has been found to be a stable and universal predictor of academic success across different disciplines, in various age groups and across different nationalities. Using a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design, the current study sought to examine how these non-intellective factors influence academic success in undergraduate mathematics. The quantitative phase (N = 661) employed a prospective, predictive research design to (1) test a mediation model that links self-efficacy to academic success, through effort regulation and grade goal and (2) to examine the relative contribution of socially conferred sources of self-efficacy (vicarious experience and social persuasion) in explaining differences in mathematics self-efficacy, over and above the contribution of self-referent sources of self-efficacy (mastery experience and emotional and physiological states). The quantitative phase confirmed that (1) mathematics self-efficacy influences mathematics achievement through effort regulation and grade goal and (2) mastery experience remains to be the most powerful source of self-efficacy, but vicarious experience from teacher, social persuasion by teacher, and social persuasion by family still significantly predict mathematics self-efficacy, when the contribution of self-referent sources is controlled. In the qualitative phase 11 students (6 high achievers and 5 low achievers) from the quantitative sample were interviewed in order to elaborate the relationships th