The roles of affective, socioeconomic status and school factors on mathematics achievement: A structural equation modeling study

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Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi, Matematik ve Fen Bilimleri Eğitimi Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2010

Öğrenci: ÖZGE MERT KALENDER

Danışman: SAFURE BULUT

Özet:

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of socioeconomic status, school factors (classroom climate, classroom activities) and affective variables (motivation, self-efficacy, mathematics anxiety, beliefs about the nature of mathematics and teaching of mathematics, students’ perceptions of their teachers and parents’ attitudes toward them) on mathematics achievement with 9th grade students in Ankara. For this purpose, structural equation modeling techniques were used. In the study, there were two research problems: “What was the general model explaining the effects of socioeconomic status, affective and school factors on students’ mathematics achievement?” and “how the proposed model explained mathematics achievement in three school types (Anatolian, general and vocational high schools)?” Some of the results of the analyses conducted in the study are the followings: In the main study, socioeconomic status had strong effect on mathematics achievement. In addition, while student-centered activities generally affected students’ mathematics achievement in a positive way but indirectly, teacher-centered activities had negative effects on affective variables. But for Anatolian and vocational high schools, this negative effect turned positive on mathematics achievement. In the main study, classroom climate had positive direct effects on self-efficacy and motivation toward mathematics as well as on mathematics achievement. Generally, affective variables had positive effects on mathematics achievement. But mathematics anxiety had no significant effect on it except general high school. The results of present study indicated that students’ perceptions of their parents and teachers’ attitudes and expectations toward them had positive indirect effects on mathematics achievement.