Proceedings of the 21st International Academic Conference, Miami

INCREASING RETENTION IN MATHEMATICS COURSES: THE ROLE OF SELF-CONFIDENCE IN MATHEMATICS ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

ADRIANA ESPINOSA, ALEKSANDR TIKHONOV, JAY JORGENSON

Abstract:

Underachievement rates in mathematics for the United States have been alarming for a long time. While the reasons have been studied at length, a large area pays close attention to self-confidence as predictor of academic performance. Most research on this area however, is based on high school students. This study extends this line of work by assessing self-confidence and its effect on academic performance among college students. Using quantile regression we show that self-confidence positively impacts class performance for the middle and bottom quantiles, but not the top 75th percent. These results imply that simple and costless confidence boosting exercises conducted in the classroom may have a positive impact on at risk students, and consequently retention. The results appear to be generalizable, rather than localized to summer school students.

Keywords: Retention, self-confidence, mathematics, Fennema-Sherman, academic performance

DOI: 10.20472/IAC.2016.021.010

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