Determining the relationships between middle school students' mathematics self-efficacy, anxiety, mathematics achievement scores, and attitudes towards mathematics

The aim of this study is to determine the relationships among middle school students' mathematics anxiety, self-efficacy, attitudes towards mathematics, and mathematics achievement scores. The study was conducted using the correlational survey model, which is one of the quantitative research methods. The sample of the research consists of 740 middle school students studying in the city center of Elazığ. The "Mathematics Attitude Scale" and the "Mathematics Self-Efficacy and Anxiety Scale" were used as data collection tools. The data collected through these tools were analyzed, and the scale dimensions and the overall scale scores were compared in terms of various independent variables. In this context, Levene's test was first used to check the homogeneity of the distribution. If the distribution was homogeneous, Independent Samples t-test or One-Way ANOVA was conducted. If not, the t-test for non-homogeneous variances and the Kruskal-Wallis H test were used. Effect sizes were calculated in cases where statistically significant differences were found between group means. In the study, students' attitudes, anxiety, and self-efficacy related to mathematics were compared based on the school attended, grade level, previous year's math grade, emotional state towards the mathematics course, and the gender of the teacher. As a result of the research, significant differences were found in favor of students who expressed their feelings toward mathematics as "I like it" in the dimensions of anxiety, study, necessity, self-efficacy, and in the overall scale scores. When the scale and its dimensions were examined according to the gender of the mathematics teacher, significant differences were observed in favor of male teachers in the dimensions of interest, anxiety, and self-efficacy, and in the overall mathematics attitude scale; whereas, in the mathematics anxiety dimension, a significant difference was found in favor of female teachers. Additionally, a positive significant relationship was observed between the mathematics achievement score and the dimensions of interest, anxiety, study, necessity, self-efficacy, the general mathematics attitude scale, and the general mathematics self-efficacy and anxiety scale. A negative significant relationship was found between the mathematics achievement score and mathematics anxiety, as well as between the self-efficacy dimension and mathematics anxiety. The highest correlation among the scales and their dimensions was calculated between the overall mathematics attitude scale and the interest dimension, while the lowest correlation was found between the mathematics achievement score and the overall mathematics self-efficacy and anxiety scale. The findings of the study provide strong evidence that students' self-efficacy beliefs play an important role in the learning-teaching process in mathematics education. In this regard, it is recommended that curricula be structured to aim at enhancing students' mathematical self-efficacy. This study focused on students' attitudes, anxiety, and self-efficacy toward mathematics; however, it did not examine the factors that may cause these variables. It is recommended that future research identify the most influential factors on students' attitudes, anxiety, and self-efficacy toward mathematics and investigate these factors in depth. Keywords: Perceived Mathematics Self-Efficacy, Mathematics Anxiety, Attitudes Towards Mathematics, Mathematics Achievement