Self-efficacy and remediation of higher education mathematics students

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: High school graduates go to college every year unable to do college-level math. For most, this lack of knowledge requires remediation which may or may not fulfill that gap. This qualitative study examined the thoughts of under-prepared students in a remedial math class at a four-year university. This research used focused interviews to understand the participants' feelings as they voiced their experiences and also incorporated observations, demographic information, and a survey instrument that reported each one's level of math self-efficacy.

Findings and Conclusions: From this study, findings show a strong relationship between success or failure in remedial math and one's belief in capability or level of self-efficacy. The successful participants were more confident, competent, and tried hard while those that did not succeed were stressed and lacked confidence in their capability to do math; they did not feel competent. Academic success requires a higher level of self-efficacy.