Affective States of University Developmental Mathematics Students and their Impact on Self-Efficacy, Belonging, Career Identity, Success and Persistence

The identification of factors that impact student success in mathematics courses has been a focus of a great deal of research since the early 2000s. The role of classroom approaches, teacher beliefs, and underlying student backgrounds have been studied in different ways. As a part of this effort researchers have studied the degree to which personality factors and affect contribute to (or mitigate) a student’s level of effective engagement. In this work we present the results from the first semester of a two-year study of the role of anxiety, personality factors and self-efficacy in student success and career planning for a cohort of students entering a developmental mathematics course at the university level. We quantify the impact of anxiety on success and grade outcomes, as well as identify a personality factor interacting with success in a surprising way. We provide initial data regarding the students’ sense of belonging in STEM disciplines and their self-efficacy levels, and then analyse their career planning patterns.