The Relationships Study Of Achievement Goals, Self-Efficacy, Learning Strategies, And Academic Achievement In Mathematics Course

Since the 1960s, with the rising of cognitive psychology, psychologists have begun to explain the individual achievement motivation and achievement behavior from social cognitive perspective, and the study of the achievement goals theory has become a noticeable subject. After this theory was proposed at the beginning of 1980s, the domestic and foreign multitudinous researchers have given it enormous attention. Achievement goals significantly impact on the academic achievement. While, self-efficacy is the key cognitive factor in an intermediary way, and positively influences achievement action. Since the conception of self-efficacy was proposed by American psychologist Bandura in 1977, researches of self-efficacy have been highly emphasized by pedagogic educations and psychologists all over the world. As an important method, learning strategies have significant influence on academic achievement. Since the 1990s, the study on learning strategies has been a central issue in the psychological field.In mathematics course, the relationships between achievement goals, self-efficacy, learning strategies and academic achievement were very close. However, in some aspects there are seldom studies that integrating the triple factors. Nevertheless the results in these studies exist many difference.The present study investigated the relationships between achievement goals, self-efficacy, learning strategies and academic achievement in mathematics course.Questionnaires were group administered to 507 middle school students in Suzhou from junior middle school grade one to senior high school grade three.Correlation, regression, and path analyses indicated that:(1) In general, the level of mathematics achievement goals of the middle school students is on the decline. In contrast, the level of achievement -avoidance goals is ascending. The level of achievement-approach goals significantly mount up in junior middle school grade two, and it appears a smooth trend in senior class. However, in general, the difference in gender has no significant difference in it.The level of mathematics self-efficacy is medium. The significant difference only exists between the students in junior middle school grade one and grade two. But the difference between junior middle school students and senior high school students is marked. And the difference in gender has no significant difference in it.Among the six learning strategy categories investigated, social strategies are employed the most frequently, and are followed by rehearsal strategies. The least frequently used strategies are monitoring strategies. The students of junior high school grade one have a better command over cognitive strategies, and the difference between itself and other grades is significant. The students of junior high school grade one and grade two have a better command over cognitive and social strategies, and there is no significant difference between the two grades. The frequency of the use of social strategies by schoolgirls is much higher than it by schoolboys. But in gender there is no difference in the frequency of the use cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies.(2)In mathematics course, mastery approach goals and performance approach goals are positively correlated with self-efficacy and learning strategies, and mastery avoidance goals and performance avoidance goals are negatively correlated with self-efficacy and learning strategies. While, self-efficacy is positively correlated with learning strategies.(3)In mathematics course, mastery approach goals, self-efficacy and learning strategies are positively correlated with academic achievement, while mastery avoidance goals and performance avoidance goals are negatively correlated with academic achievement.(4)In mathematics course, learning strategies influence academic achievement directly, but achievement goals and self-efficacy influence academic achievement indirectly by raising the level of the use of learning strategies.In addition, learning ability self-efficacy influence academic achievement directly. Four kinds of academic achievement influence self-efficacy, then influence learning strategies and academic achievement indirectly.The results of this study will provide the understandings of the impact for math teachers to improve the level of achievement goals, self-efficacy, learning strategies, and academic achievement.