A Quantitative Examination of Community College Students' Self-efficacy Inside Mathematics Pathways


Book Description

The purpose of this quantitative study was to measure the change in mathematics self-efficacy of students enrolled in a college mathematics course at a community college in Missouri. The change was measured over a single semester as a pre-test and post-test. The timing of this study is significant, given that it follows statewide changes in college mathematics curriculum. The changes made to Missouri college-level mathematics courses were done in an effort to increase student retention and completion of general education mathematics credit in the state, which had been a barrier for graduation. This study outlines how mathematics self-efficacy is one measure that may be used to assess how the new courses impact students. The data from a mathematics self-efficacy survey, administered to students during Fall 2019 and Spring 2021 semesters, were analyzed using descriptive statistics and tested for significance using t-tests and ANOVA. Changes in mathematics self-efficacy were examined based on whether or not the student was enrolled in an optimal mathematics course for their degree, gender, ethnicity, high school grade point average, and overall college mathematics course enrollment. Findings showed that there were significant differences in the change in mathematics self-efficacy based on gender, ethnicity, high school grade point average, developmental math course enrollment, and optimal mathematics pathway course enrollment. Students enrolled in a general education mathematics course for the fall of 2019 had an overall increase in mathematics self-efficacy. Male students showed greater overall mathematics self-efficacy at the start of the semester; gender was a significant factor in how much mathematics self-efficacy changed. White students had an overall significant increase in mathematics self-efficacy. Other groups with a significant increase were students with a high school grade point average of 3.0 or higher and students enrolled in a three credit-hour developmental mathematics course. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in obstacles that led to less robust data collection following the pandemic. Therefore, the Spring of 2021 data were not sufficient to aid in some of this research study. This research fills a gap in the literature on the mathematics self-efficacy of Missouri mathematics college students, but further research is needed.




Mathematics Self-efficacy of Community College Students in Developmental Mathematics Courses


Book Description

Mathematics self-efficacy was defined as an individual's beliefs about how he or she would perform a specific math task or in a specific mathematics or related course. Mathematics self-efficacy was differentiated from self-esteem. Previous literature found self-efficacy in general and mathematics self-efficacy in particular to be significantly related to enrollment, retention, and completion. This study used the Mathematics Self-Efficacy Survey to investigate whether age, gender, developmental mathematics course, or developmental mathematics grade were significantly predictive of mathematics self-efficacy among developmental mathematics students course at a Kentucky community college. Multiple linear regression found that none of these variables were statistically significant predictors of mathematics self-efficacy among respondents. The study discussed the resulting implications and made recommendations for future research and practice.




Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research


Book Description

Published annually since 1985, the Handbook series provides a compendium of thorough and integrative literature reviews on a diverse array of topics of interest to the higher education scholarly and policy communities. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of research findings on a selected topic, critiques the research literature in terms of its conceptual and methodological rigor and sets forth an agenda for future research intended to advance knowledge on the chosen topic. The Handbook focuses on a comprehensive set of central areas of study in higher education that encompasses the salient dimensions of scholarly and policy inquiries undertaken in the international higher education community. Each annual volume contains chapters on such diverse topics as research on college students and faculty, organization and administration, curriculum and instruction, policy, diversity issues, economics and finance, history and philosophy, community colleges, advances in research methodology and more. The series is fortunate to have attracted annual contributions from distinguished scholars throughout the world.










A Mixed Methods Study of College Self-efficacy and Persistence Among First-time Full-time Community College Students Enrolled in a Guided Pathway Program and Students Not Enrolled in a Guided Pathway Program


Book Description

Perhaps if we had a better understanding between the relationships among indicators of success in college, college student self-efficacy and participation in programs that help students succeed in college, we could improve success rates and persistence in post-secondary education. This mixed methods study sheds light on the relationship among interventions such as the Aggie Pathway program and the College Self-Efficacy Inventory, and persistence of students with a high school GPA of 2.749 or less. E-interview data was used to augment findings from the survey data. The statistical model of point-biserial correlation coefficient was used to estimate the relationship between the independent continuous variables of college self-efficacy scores and the dichotomous dependent variable of persistence. A chi-square test of homogeneity was used to determine the proportion of students who persisted from the fall 2016 semester to the spring 2017 semester using the independent variable participation in the Aggie Pathway program and the dichotomous dependent variable of persistence to the next semester at p










Effects on Students' Self-efficacy in a Mathematics Bridge Program


Book Description

Many beginning college students have historically struggled with both developmental and college-level mathematics. This study investigated whether students' self-efficacy for accomplishing mathematics tasks was increased after participating in a mathematics bridge program. The study also explored whether students gained more self-efficacy as a result of participating in an enhanced intervention designed to increase mathematics self-efficacy. Participants included 246 community college students placed into a developmental mathematics course and subsequently enrolled in the college's mathematics bridge program. The bridge program was designed to provide a one-week review session on high school mathematics topics with the goal of students placing into higher-level courses at the end of the session. A survey measuring mathematics self-efficacy was administered to participants both at the beginning and at the end of the bridge program in order to measure the change in math self-efficacy for each participant. The subsequent statistical analysis included a two-way mixed ANOVA focusing on effects of time, group (traditional intervention group or enhanced intervention group), and first-generation student status (first-generation, continuing-generation, or unknown) to examine if students experienced an increase in self-efficacy upon completion of the bridge program. Students provided open-ended responses to the question, "What did you find most helpful about the Math Refresher course?" A content analysis determined the themes that emerged from the data. Students had a significant increase in self-efficacy (p