Predicting college students' mathematics anxiety by motivational beliefs and self-regulated learning strategies.(Report)

The purpose of this study is to determine whether motivational beliefs and self-regulated learning strategies are significant predictors of college students' mathematics anxiety. The subscales for the motivation scale are intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal orientation, task value, control of learning beliefs, self-efficacy for learning and performance, and test anxiety; while the subscales for the learning strategies scale are rehearsal, elaboration, organization, critical thinking, metacognitive self-regulation, time and study environment management, effort regulation, peer learning, and help-seeking. The study group was comprised of 183 college students. It was determined that college students' test anxiety and self-efficacy for learning and performance are significant predictors of college students' mathematics anxiety. In addition, college students' rehearsal and elaboration of cognitive learning strategies were found to be significant predictors for their mathematics anxiety.

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Gaining mathematics ability is key for most career opportunities (Rekdal, 1984). Moreover, it is possible to make use of a math ability in certain areas of science, like economics, politics, social studies, genetics and medicine (Roman, 2004). Mathematics ability, used in many fields, is composed of computation skills and problem-solving skills (Schunk, 2000). There are some questions (why, how, when, where, and with whom they will leam these skills) the students should ask themselves in order to gain these skills (Zimmerman, 1994). The answers for these questions focus on the concepts of motivational beliefs (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002; Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2002; Metallidou & Vlachou, 2007; Pintrich, 2004; Wolters & Yu, 1996) and self-regulation (Paris & Newman, 1990; Pintrich & De Groot, 1990; Schunk & Zimmerman, 1997; Zimmerman, 2002; Zimmerman & Kitsantas, 1997; Zimmerman & Martinez-Pons, 1986).

The literature suggests that when students use motivational beliefs and learning strategies for self-regulation, their successes increase (Camahalan, 2006; Dresel, & Haugwitz, 2005; Eshel & Kohavi, 2003; Malmivuori, 2006; Metallidou & Vlachou, 2007; Pape, 2002; Whipp & Chiarelli, 2004; Wolters & Yu, 1996; Yukselturk & Bulut, 2007; Zimmerman, 1990). On the other hand, if they do not use these beliefs and strategies effectively, their failure and anxiety may increase (Fulk & Brigham, 1998; Kurman, 2006; Pekrun et al., 2002). Students must organize their motivational beliefs and self-regulated learning strategies to decrease their mathematics anxiety and become successful in mathematics. In other words, examining motivational beliefs and self-regulated learning strategies can serve as a clue for reasons of success (mathematics success) or failure (mathematics anxiety). Hence, the aim of this study is to determine whether motivational beliefs and self-regulated learning strategies are predictors of college students' mathematics anxiety.

Bandura (1997) emphasizes the importance of individuals' motivational processes and he further states that individuals should shape their beliefs about their abilities, set negative and positive outcomes, and anticipate different pursuits and goals for themselves. He points out that self-efficacy beliefs have a significant role in regulation of motivation in addition to these. On the other hand, Linnenbrink and Pintrich (2002) dwell upon a different dimension of motivation and define it as an academic enabler. They state that self-efficacy, attributions, intrinsic motivation, and goals are significant for students' motivation. Pintrich (2004) emphasizes the importance of motivational beliefs in the learning process and underlines the fact that motivational beliefs--goal orientation, self-efficacy, perceptions of task difficulty, task value beliefs, and personal interest in the task--should be regulated by the students to be effective in this process.