Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33536959›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychology2020

Self-Efficacy Between Previous and Current Mathematics Performance of Undergraduate Students: An Instrumental Variable Approach to Exposing a Causal Relationship.

Yusuf F Zakariya

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Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

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4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Yusuf F ZakariyaDepartment of Mathematical Sciences, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway.

Funding

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6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeSelf-efficacy has been argued theoretically and shown empirically to be an essential construct for students' improved learning outcomes. However, there is a dearth of studies on its causal effects on performance in mathematics among university students. Meanwhile, it will be erroneous to assume that results from other fields of studies generalize to mathematics learning due to the task-specificity of the construct. As such, attempts are made in the present study to provide evidence for a causal relationship between self-efficacy and performance with a focus on engineering students following a mathematics course at a Norwegian university.

methodThe adopted research design in the present study is a survey type in which collected data from first-year university students are analyzed using structural equation modeling with weighted least square mean and variance adjusted (WLSMV) estimator. Data were generated using mainly questionnaires, a test of prior mathematics knowledge, and the students' final examination scores in the course. The causal effect of self-efficacy was discerned from disturbance effects on performance by using an innovative instrumental variable approach to structural equation modeling.

resultsThe findings confirmed a significant direct effect of the prior mathematics knowledge test (β = 0.52, SE = 0.01,

conclusionThe findings of the present study provide empirically supports for designing self-efficacy interventions as proxies to improve students' performance in university mathematics. Further, the findings of the present study confirm some postulates of Bandura's agentic social cognitive theory.

Indexed as

causal model analysisinstrumental variable approachprior mathematics knowledgeself-efficacyundergraduate learning

Identifiers

PMID33536959
PMCPMC7847852

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