The influence of classroom climate on student's mathematics self-efficacy and achievement: A multi-level analysis

Mathematics proficiency is viewed as a necessary component for success in today's world. Given that most undergraduate institutions require the successful completion of a mathematics course and an increasing number of students, many of whom lack confidence in mathematics, are pursuing undergraduate degrees, the influence of classroom climate on mathematics self-efficacy and achievement needed to be examined. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a theoretical model that described the relationships among classroom climate, mathematics self-efficacy, and mathematics achievement and examined the influence that undergraduate mathematics classroom climates have on mathematics self-efficacy and mathematics achievement.;Undergraduate college algebra instructors (n = 15), employed at public 4-year universities (n = 10), were solicited to participate in this study. This criterion-based sample was administered the Principles of Adult Learning Scale (PALS) to assess instructional preference or teaching style. Students enrolled in the college algebra courses (n = 326) were administered the Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale-Revised (MSES-R) at the end of the course semester and their final examination scores were obtained through each of the instructors. The Item Score String Estimation (ISSE) standard setting method was used to equate all of the examinations on a common grading scale and, thus, standardize the final examination scores. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with consenting mathematics instructors. Quantitative data analysis included descriptive statistics, Pearson's r correlations, and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) techniques, while an inductive coding process was used to analyze the qualitative data.;The Pearson's r results suggested statistically significant correlations among classroom climate, mathematics self-efficacy, and mathematics achievement. However, the findings from the HLM analysis did not completely agree. The results of the multi-level analysis suggested that similar to the single-level analysis mathematics self-efficacy had a direct influence on mathematics achievement, classroom climate had a direct effect on mathematics self-efficacy, and teacher-centered classroom climates tend to have higher mathematics self-efficacy. Unlike the single-level analysis, the HLM results did not conclude that classroom climate had a direct effect on mathematics achievement. In addition, results indicated that classroom climate, accounting for mathematics self-efficacy, explained 11.3% of the between-classroom level variance in mathematics achievement.