Educational Factors, Self-Efficacy and Mathematical Proficiency of Students: A Mediation Analysis

Abstract

In fact, students' ability to learn mathematics is still an issue because even when there have been improvements in terms of teaching methods, a number of students continue to perform poorly in the subject area. The present study looked into the association between educational factors and mathematical proficiency of grade seven students, focusing on the mediating effect of self-efficacy. Based on Self-Efficacy Theory (Bandura, 1997), the study identified the effect of instructional techniques, learning materials, and classroom settings on students' mathematics performance. Quantitative methodology was used for this study, with a sample size of 332 Grade 7 students. Survey questionnaires and mathematics proficiency test were utilized in collecting data. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and mediation analysis were used to analyze data. Findings indicated that students had positive perceptions about education-related variables, especially in terms of instructional techniques. Moreover, students had high self-efficacy levels, but they also experienced mathematics anxiety to some extent. Nonetheless, students performed poorly in mathematics proficiency, specifically in conceptual understanding.
Furthermore, it was found out that there is a statistically significant influence of the educational variables on the math ability with a very low effect size. The self-efficacy was found to be an important mediator variable for the relationship between educational variables and math achievement. It means that enhancing the self-confidence of learners is as influential as optimizing learning conditions.