Mathematical Modeling Self-Efficacy of Middle School and High School Students

Mathematical modeling is a cyclical process involving the competencies of understanding the problem, simplifying, mathematizing, working mathematically, interpreting, and validating. Mathematical modeling self-efficacy beliefs are essential to students’ mathematical modeling performance. This study examined middle and high school students’ mathematical modeling self-efficacy beliefs. The participants consisted of 1091 middle school students and 974 high school students. The data were collected through the “Mathematical Modeling Self-Efficacy Scale [MMSS]”. T-tests and ANOVA test statistics were used to determine the effect of gender, school level, grade level and previous engagement in model-eliciting activities on the mathematical modeling self-efficacy beliefs. The results showed that the mathematical modeling self-efficacy beliefs of middle school students were significantly higher than those of high school students. Furthermore, middle school students’ mathematical modeling self-efficacy beliefs did not differ significantly by gender, while at the high school level there was a significant difference in favor of males. Regarding grade levels, only a statistically significant difference was found between the mathematical modeling self-efficacy beliefs of seventh- and eighth-grade students. Moreover, middle and high school students who had previously engaged in model-eliciting activities had significantly higher mathematical modeling self-efficacy beliefs than those who had not. In the accessible literature, there is no study on the mathematical modeling self-efficacy beliefs of middle and high school students. Therefore, we believe this study’s results will contribute to the literature on mathematical modeling.