Do student self-efficacy and teacher-student interaction quality contribute to emotional and social engagement in fifth grade math?

Abstract

This study examined (a) the contribution of math self-efficacy to students' perception of their emotional and social engagement in fifth grade math classes, and (b) the extent to which high quality teacher-student interactions compensated for students' low math self-efficacy in contributing to engagement. Teachers (n = 73) were observed three times during the year during math to measure the quality of teacher-student interactions (emotional, organizational, and instructional support). Fifth graders (n = 387) reported on their math self-efficacy at the beginning of the school year and then were surveyed about their feelings of engagement in math class three times during the year immediately after the lessons during which teachers were observed. Results of multi-level models indicated that students initially lower in math self-efficacy reported lower emotional and social engagement during math class than students with higher self-efficacy. However, in classrooms with high levels of teacher emotional support, students reported similar levels of both emotional and social engagement, regardless of their self-efficacy. No comparable findings emerged for organizational and instructional support. The discussion considers the significance of students' own feelings about math in relation to their engagement, as well as the ways in which teacher and classroom supports can compensate for students lack of agency. The work has implications for school psychologists and teachers eager to boost students' engagement in math class.

Teacher’s Autonomy Support and Engagement in Math: Multiple Mediating Roles of Self-efficacy, Intrinsic Value, and Boredom

“…These findings concurred with the SDT (Ryan and Deci, 2000; Deci and Ryan, 2008) and previous studies on the relations of autonomy support and academic engagement (Reeve et al, 2004; Skinner et al, 2008; Chen et al, 2015; Hospel and Galand, 2016; Jang et al, 2016; Yu et al, 2016). Self-efficacy and intrinsic value enhanced the behavioral and cognitive types of academic engagement, which further supported previous conclusions highlighting the positive role of these two individual factors in engagement (Linnenbrink and Pintrich, 2003; Patrick et al, 2007; Sakiz et al, 2012; Martin and Rimm-Kaufman, 2015; González et al, 2016; Zhen et al, 2016). Students who experienced more boredom reported less behavioral and cognitive engagement in math.…”

“…On the one hand, students with high self-efficacy tend to expend greater effort on their learning activities and persist longer in the face of challenges and setbacks (Bandura, 1977). High self-efficacy contributes to high academic engagement (Linnenbrink and Pintrich, 2003; Patrick et al, 2007; Sakiz et al, 2012; Martin and Rimm-Kaufman, 2015). On the other hand, high intrinsic value will lead students to use more cognitive strategies and to manage their efforts more effectively (Pintrich and De Groot, 1990).…”

Effects of developmental relationships with teachers on middle‐school students’ motivation and performance

“…Moreover, some of the most commonly used measures of student–teacher relationships do not directly obtain student perceptions but rely instead on teacher report or observational approaches (e.g., D. P. Martin & Rimm‐Kaufman, 2015; Pianta et al, 2012 [Classroom Assessment Scoring System‐Secondary]; Pianta & Stuhlman, 2004 [Student Teacher Relationship Scale]).…”

The role of cognitive and non-cognitive factors in mathematics achievement: The importance of the quality of the student-teacher relationship in middle school

“…Since this conceptualization was shared in the academic community, a great amount of research has been conducted in order to provide empirical support to the theoretical idea according to which a positive affective relationship with a teacher might promote learning and positive adaptation within the school context [62] and the affective quality of the student-teacher relationship has been shown to be an important predictor of children's development and wellbeing [65]. Many studies have found that students with close relationships with their teachers are more likely to experience at school academic interest, engagement, achievement, self-efficacy, and motivation as compared to students with more distant relationships [66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78]. Particularly for children who are at risk of failure in school, an emotionally supportive relationship with a teacher can act as a protective factor and have positive effects on developmental outcomes [66].…”