RUME 26
2024
Omaha, Nebraska
How Students Reconcile Incongruous Mathematics Self-Efficacy
Page: 63
Incongruous mathematics self-efficacy (IMSE) is when a student’s self-efficacy does not match their performance. We present a subset of results from a larger qualitative study examining IMSE in collegiate intermediate algebra. We used qualitative interviews and surveys to longitudinally follow students for their entire semester in intermediate algebra and present the cases of three students with IMSE (over confidence). We show that participants’ over confidence seemed to stem from them doubting their performance would be predictive of their future success; participants did eventually lower their self-efficacy in response to repeated low performance. Results have implications for college mathematics instructors and for the study of self-efficacy.