Finding the Answers Behind Students' Confidence Level in Mathematics Across Countries: A Secondary Analysis Using TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) 2011

• In Event: Relations Between Motivation and Anxiety Beliefs on Mathematical Achievement

Abstract

This secondary analysis research aimed to examine how student’s characteristics (gender and socio-economics status (SES), achievement and level of engagement in mathematics) and classroom’s characteristics (location, class size, teacher’s gender and years of experience) can affect his/her confidence level in mathematics. Using TIMSS 2011 dataset which contained the total of 19,712 8th grade students in almost 1200 classrooms, this paper showed that there is a small effect of achievement on student’s confident level. In fact, confidence level is most affected by the gender of the student, the student’s SES, engagement level in mathematics, the class size and also their classmate’s socioeconomic status. This study found that those effects vary between country and not universal.

Author

• Linh Nguyet Doan, Teachers College, Columbia University