Title from PDF of title page, viewed May 24, 2023Dissertation advisor: Tiffani Riggers-PiehlVitaIncludes bibliographical references (pages 162-172)DIssertation (Ed.D.)--Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Foundations. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2023The purpose of this quantitative study was to measure the change in mathematics self-efficacy of students enrolled in a college mathematics course at a community college in Missouri. The change was measured over a single semester as a pre-test and post-test. The timing of this study is significant, given that it follows statewide changes in college mathematics curriculum. The changes made to Missouri college-level mathematics courses were done in an effort to increase student retention and completion of general education mathematics credit in the state, which had been a barrier for graduation. This study outlines how mathematics self-efficacy is one measure that may be used to assess how the new courses impact students. The data from a mathematics self-efficacy survey, administered to students during Fall 2019 and Spring 2021 semesters, were analyzed using descriptive statistics and tested for significance using t-tests and ANOVA. Changes in mathematics self-efficacy were examined based on whether or not the student was enrolled in an optimal mathematics course for their degree, gender, ethnicity, high school grade point average, and overall college mathematics course enrollment.
Findings showed that there were significant differences in the change in mathematics self-efficacy based on gender, ethnicity, high school grade point average, developmental math course enrollment, and optimal mathematics pathway course enrollment. Students enrolled in a general education mathematics course for the fall of 2019 had an overall increase in mathematics self-efficacy. Male students showed greater overall mathematics self-efficacy at the start of the semester; gender was a significant factor in how much mathematics self-efficacy changed. White students had an overall significant increase in mathematics self-efficacy. Other groups with a significant increase were students with a high school grade point average of 3.0 or higher and students enrolled in a three credit-hour developmental mathematics course.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in obstacles that led to less robust data collection following the pandemic. Therefore, the Spring of 2021 data were not sufficient to aid in some of this research study. This research fills a gap in the literature on the mathematics self-efficacy of Missouri mathematics college students, but further research is needed.Introduction -- A review of the literature -- Methodology -- Results -- Conclusio
