scholarly journals Middle School Students’ Graph Skills and Affective States about Graphs

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 692
Author(s):  
Murat Bursal ◽  
Serap Yetiş
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Eighth Graders ◽  
Efficacy Beliefs ◽  
Affective States ◽  
School Students ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Significant Difference

This survey design study was designed to test whether the graph skills and affective states of middle school students about graphs differ by their gender, grade level, and graph types (line, bar, and pie). The data collection instruments consisted of two scales developed by the authors and a Graph Skills Test, which consisted of graph questions from the previous TIMSS and PISA exams. Based on the findings, while middle school students were found to succeed at reading the data level graph questions, they were found to struggle in questions requiring higher graph skills, such as graph interpretation and graph construction. As for the affective states investigated, participants were found to hold high self-efficacy beliefs and positive attitudes toward graphs. No significant difference among the dependent variables (graph skills, self-efficacy beliefs about graphs, attitudes toward graphs, and graph literacy perceptions) was found by gender; however, grade level and graph type variables were found to impact students’ graph skills, graph attitudes, and personal graph literacy perceptions. Middle school students with less school experience with graphs (seventh graders) were found to hold more positive attitudes toward graphs than the eighth graders. On the contrary, eighth graders were found to perform better at graph questions requiring interpretations of the graph data. Also, participants in all subgroups were found to hold significantly higher personal graph literacy perceptions for the bar graphs, than the line graphs and pie charts. Based on the findings of the study, while middle school students were found to hold positive affective states about graphs, they were found to lack advanced graph skills. In agreement with the previous literature, it is recommended that graph literacy should become a dedicated part of the school curriculum.

scholarly journals Middle School Students' Line Graph Skills and Affective States about Common Graph Types Used in Science Courses

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 290
Author(s):  
Murat Bursal ◽  
Fuat Polat
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Line Graph ◽  
Efficacy Beliefs ◽  
Affective States ◽  
School Students ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
Significant Difference

This study investigated the graphing skills and some affective states of middle school students about graphs by their gender, grade level, and the common graph types used in science courses. Participants’ line graph skills, self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes toward graphs, and their personal literacy perceptions about different graph types (line, bar, and pie) are explored quantitatively. Qualitative data was collected about the views of participants about graphs in general, as well as about the factors that impact students like/dislike certain graph types. Based on the findings, while participants were found to lack line graph skills, they were found to hold high self-efficacy beliefs and positive attitudes toward graphs. No significant difference among the dependent variables was found based on gender; however, grade level and graph type variables were found to impact students’ graph skills and personal graph literacy perceptions. Among the commonly used graphs in middle schools, a vast majority of students favored bar graphs, mostly due to the simplicity of them, and disliked pie charts, as finding them difficult to draw.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Guilt, Shame and Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Middle School Students

2015 ◽  
Vol 197 ◽  
pp. 1013-1017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessia Passanisi ◽  
Irene Sapienza ◽  
Silvia Budello ◽  
Flavio Giaimo
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Efficacy Beliefs ◽  
School Students ◽  
The Relationship

scholarly journals Evaluation of an Afterschool Mentorship Program for Self-Efficacy

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Atia D Mark ◽  
Steve Wells
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Character Education ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Efficacy Beliefs ◽  
Interview Data ◽  
The Self ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
School Students ◽  
Mentorship Program

Middle school students in Nova Scotia, Canada, are perceived to have low self-efficacy for achieving learning outcomes. While strong self-efficacy beliefs, developed through effective curricula, have been linked to improved academic performance, there is a need for formal evaluation of such curricula. The purpose of this study was to investigate a 10-week afterschool mentorship curriculum that has never been evaluated. The aim of the curriculum is to strengthen self-efficacy beliefs via relationship building exercises, public speaking training, and character education. Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy, which states that treatment influences can alter the strength of self-efficacy, informed the conceptual framework. Evaluation questions explored apparent changes in the self-efficacy of the students from the perspective of seven adult caregivers and the program’s instructor. Interview data were triangulated with quantitative descriptive statistics on the self-efficacy scores of 10 middle school students before and after program participation using the Children’s Hope Scale. Comparison of pre- and posttest scores did not show remarkable differences in self-efficacy beliefs of the students. However, analysis of interview data revealed that children’s self-efficacy beliefs grew, the largest increase being in those described as reserved at the beginning of the program. This study promotes positive social change through an increased understanding that can inform efforts to increase self-efficacy in middle school students.

Sources of Middle School Students’ Self-Efficacy in Mathematics: A Qualitative Investigation

2009 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 275-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen L. Usher
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Social Cognitive Theory ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Affective States ◽  
School Students ◽  
Course Placement ◽  
And Mathematics

According to A. Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory, individuals form their self-efficacy beliefs by interpreting information from four sources: mastery experience, vicarious experience, social persuasions, and physiological or affective states. The purpose of this study was to examine the heuristics students use as they form their mathematics self-efficacy from these and other sources. Semistructured interviews were conducted with eight middle school students who reported either high or low self-efficacy and with students’ parents and mathematics teachers. Students relied on information from all four hypothesized sources, which were combined according to various heuristics. Teaching structures, course placement, and students’ self-regulated learning also emerged as important factors related to self-efficacy. Results refine and extend the tenets of social cognitive theory.

scholarly journals A study on the examination of the metaphoric perceptions of middle school students about pattern

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 215-250
Author(s):  
Selin Çenberci ◽  
Dilek Sezgin Memnun ◽  
Hasibe İnce
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
School Students ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Grade Levels ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Chi Square Test ◽  
Phenomenological Design

In this study, it was aimed both to examine middle school students' perceptions of the concept of pattern and to reveal if the metaphoric perceptions which the students created in relation to the concept of pattern changed according to the variable of grade level. The metaphors in relation to the concept were carried out via the "phenomenological" design. For this, a short open ended form was directed to the volunteer fifth, sixth, and seventh-grade students who attended to the research from a middle school in Turkey. The qualitative data were analyzed through content analysis. Besides, the chi-square test was used for quantitative analysis. The perceptions of middle school students were gathered under six different categories. Moreover, the analyses made within the scope of this study revealed that the metaphors which the participant students created for the concept of pattern did not indicate significant difference according to the grade levels.

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