Document Type
Dissertation
First Faculty Advisor
Schumacher, Phyllis
Keywords
Classroom climate; Math self-efficacy; Achievement
Publisher
Bryant University
Abstract
There is a variety of past research regarding the relationship between the mathematics classroom climate and student learning. More specifically, many studies look at how the classroom climate may influence student self-efficacy in math. Furthermore, another quantity of research supports that there is a link between student math self-efficacy and the student’s achievement in the particular subject. The goal of this study is to see if students’ perceptions of their math classroom climate are related to their self-efficacies towards the subject, which therefore affects their achievement in math. It is hypothesized that there is a relationship between the classroom environment and student self-efficacy; furthermore, it is hypothesized this relationship contributes to student achievement in math. Participants were 83 high school students attending a public suburban school outside of Boston in the winter of 2014. Students completed Fast’s measure assessing classroom climate, math self-efficacy and achievement. A significant relationship was found between classroom climate and student self-efficacy, with mastery goal structure being the most significant aspect of classroom climate that contributes to this relationship. A significant relationship was found between self-efficacy and achievement, but boys had higher self-efficacies while girls had higher achievement.
