The Interplay of Self-Efficacy and Performance: Behavioral Insights from Digital Mathematics Learning

• In Event: AERA Research in Progress Roundtable Session Four
  In Invited Roundtable: Research-in-Progress RT026 (Saturday)

Abstract

Student self-efficacy predicts important educational outcomes including persistence and achievement. As digital learning platforms increasingly integrate into classrooms, understanding how self-efficacy relates to learning behaviors in these environments is critical. This study uses person-centered cluster analysis to examine whether students' self-efficacy and math performance produce distinct behavioral profiles in a digital mathematics platform. Using data from 577 middle school students in MATHia, I investigate whether clustering yields distinct profiles and whether these profiles demonstrate unique help-seeking behaviors (hint usage, pause time). Results will advance theory by testing non-linear interactions between self-efficacy and performance, refine methodological understanding of help-seeking as multidimensional, and inform practical design of adaptive learning systems responsive to motivational profiles beyond performance data alone.

Author

• Sarah Shaw, Vanderbilt University