Self-Efficacy in a General
Education Mathematics Course
Dr. Laura Schmidt
University of Wisconsin – Stout
OPID Spring Conference
Background
OPID two year project on the gap
between students’ and instructors’
expectations, and the impacts of closing
the gap.
 Motivational aspect unchanged from the
project.
 Led to current Teaching Scholars project
on motivation which transformed into a
project on self-efficacy.

Context
Concepts of Mathematics Course
 39 students
 Majors: education, art, health & wellness,
vocational rehabilitation, hotel, restaurant
& tourism, apparel, communications &
media, human development & family
studies
 Required course for general education

Methodology
Weekly surveys (wk 2 – wk 15)
 In-class every Monday

Survey
Demographics included
 Likert questions scale:
1 (not at all true of me) – 5 (very true of me)
 Open ended questions

Questions
I’m confident I can learn the basic
concepts taught during this week.
 I’m confident I can understand the most
complex material presented by the
instructor this week.
 I’m confident I can do an excellent job on
the assignments, problems and tests this
week.
 I’m confident I can master the skills being
taught this week.

Questions continued
Compared with other students in this
class, I expect to do well on this week’s
assignments.
 Compared with other students in this
class, I think I’m a good student.
 Compared with other students in this
class, I think I know a great deal about the
subject.

Questions continued
I can solve most problems this week if I
invest the necessary effort.
 I can remain calm when facing difficulties
on problems this week.
 I can persevere when encountering
difficulties on this week’s assignments.

Questions continued

Briefly describe your study plan this week,
if any.

What and how are you feeling about your
progress in this course? Are there any
elements of the class that you feel may be
especially helpful or harmful to your
progress?
Response Rates
39 students in class
 Seven students did all 14 surveys, ~18%
response
 Six students missed only one survey,
~15%
 Eleven students missed between 2-5
surveys, ~28%
 Remaining missed 6 or more surveys

Overall Class Results
Overall Self-Efficacy Scores
4.4
4.3
4.288
4.2
4.1
4.25
4.211
4.124
4.069
4.132
4.067
4
3.969
3.9
3.869
3.8
3.92
3.9
3.867
3.841
3.78
3.7
3.6
3.5
Wk 2
Wk 3
Wk 4
Wk 5
Wk 6
Wk 7
Wk 8
Wk 9
Wk 10
Wk 11
Wk12
Wk 13
Wk 14
Wk 15
Summary
Optimistic on the first survey
 Lower scores near exam times
 Lowest score near logic chapter
 Highest score near geometry chapter
 Newer topics have lower scores, and
review topics have higher scores

Individual Student Results
Self-Efficacy Student Comparison
5.1
4.9
4.7
4.5
Self-Efficacy Score
4.3
4.1
3.9
3.7
3.5
3.3
3.1
2.9
2.7
2.5
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
*Includes scores for 7 students who completed all 14 surveys
Future Work
Analyze remaining data from fall and
spring semesters
 Analyze by gender, age, first-generation
status
 Analyze qualitative responses
 Develop plan for interventions

Thanks!
Encouragement and support from the
Wisconsin Teaching Fellows & Scholars
Program, and the Office of Professional
and Instructional Development.
 UW-Stout Provost’s Office
 UW-Stout Mathematics, Statistics, and
Computer Science department
