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A longitudinal study of structure and changes in math self-competence beliefs during primary school

Math academic self-concept represents student’s self-evaluation of his/her ability and competence in math, and math self-efficacy represents student’s conviction that he/she can successfully perform the expected academic tasks in math at designated levels. As research has indicated that there is a decline in these self-competence beliefs during schooling, and that this decline could be universal in western cultures, the present study aimed to expand the existing knowledge on academic self-competence beliefs development, utilizing longitudinal research design and data analytic approach. Specifically, we examined two main study questions related to the structure and changes in math self-concept using longitudinal research design and data collected in three cohorts of primary school students attending 4th (10 years), 5th (11 years) and 6th (12 years) grade (in total 1920 students), who were followed for three consecutive years. The analyses conducted in this study were primarily based on one cohort of students, and data from other cohorts served for the purposes of operational cross-comparison of findings. The study outcomes confirm that in the case of math academic self-concept, student’s self-perception of his/her math ability and math self-efficacy are hierarchically structured, with existence of general math academic self-concept. Study outcomes related to changes in math self-competence beliefs confirm the expectations based on previous studies. The results of latent growth curve modeling have shown there is a statistically significant downward change in math academic self- concept and math self-efficacy from fourth to sixth grade, replicating previous findings. The performed multiple analysis indicated that individual differences exist among students in the rate of change during primary school, which was considered and discussed on the conceptual and practical level. Teaching and learning practices should be tailored for specific groups of students which differ in the rate of decline in math self- competence beliefs.

Primary School, STEM education, Self-concept, Self-Efficacy, Longitudinal study, Cognitive Development

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