Title

The influence of self-efficacy and metacognitive prompting on math problem-solving efficiency

Authors

Authors

Contemp. Educ. Psychol.

Comments

Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

Keywords

Self-efficacy; Self-regulation; Metacognitive prompting; Math; problem-solving; Strategy; WORKING-MEMORY; MENTAL MULTIPLICATION; ACADEMIC-PERFORMANCE; KNOWLEDGE; BELIEFS; MATHEMATICS; CLASSROOM; STUDENTS; SKILL; GOAL; Psychology, Educational

Abstract

A regression design was used to test the unique and interactive effects of self-efficacy beliefs and metacognitive prompting oil solving mental multiplication problems while controlling for mathematical background knowledge and problem complexity. Problem-solving accuracy, response time, and efficiency (i.e. the ratio of problems solved correctly to time) were measured. Students completed a mathematical background inventory and then assessed their self-efficacy for mental multiplication accuracy. Before solving a series of multiplication problems, participants were randomly assigned to either a prompting or control group. We tested the motivational efficiency, hypothesis, which predicted that motivational beliefs, such as self-efficacy and attributions to metacognitive strategy use are related to more efficient problem solving. Findings suggested that self-efficacy and metacognitive prompting increased problem-solving performance and efficiency separately through activation of reflection and strategy knowledge. Educational implications and future research are suggested. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Volume

33

Issue/Number

4

Publication Date

1-1-2008

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

875

Last Page

893

WOS Identifier

WOS:000260088600019

ISSN

0361-476X

Share

COinS