THE IMPACTS OF ANXIETY AND SELF-EFFICACY BELIEFS OF STUDENTS ON THE ACHIEVEMENT LEVELS ABOUT READING AND INTERPRETATION OF GRAPHS

Year 2016, Volume: 4 , 367 - 371, 01.09.2016

Erdoğan Halat Firdevs Çimenci Ateş

Abstract

The
aim of this study was to examine the effects of anxiety and self-efficacy
beliefs of the eighth grade students on the achievement levels about the
reading and interpretation of the frequency polygon and histogram. There were a
total of 388 eighth grade students involved in this study. They attended to the
study from four different middle schools. The researchers used three different
instruments in the collection of the data. One of the instruments was a
multiple choice statistics test that included 22 questions about the reading
and interpretation of graphs and finding of the measures of both central
tendency and dispersion. This test was developed by the researchers who piloted
it and found its reliability of Cronbach's alpha value as 0.80. The researchers also used a
math anxiety scale developed by Şentürk (2010) and a math self-efficacy beliefs
scale developed by Umay (2002) in the study. After the collection of the data,
the researchers employed the paired samples t-test, independent samples t-test
and two-way ANOVA in the analysis of the data. The study demonstrated that the
anxiety and self-efficacy levels of the 8^th grade students in
mathematics had considerable effects on the students’ achievement levels about
the reading and interpretation of the frequency polygon and histogram. The
study also indicated that there were positive relationships between the
students’ self-efficacy levels and the overall test scores. Furthermore, when
their achievement levels were examined according to their anxiety levels, the
achievement levels of the students on the test were found successively medium,
low and high. The interaction of students’ anxiety and self-efficacy levels did
not influence the accomplishment levels of the students about the reading and
interpretation of the graphs. 

Keywords

Statistics, graphs, anxiety, self-efficacy beliefs

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