Relationships between student beliefs and solution performance on mathematics story problems: Examining aspects of a cognitive process model

This study examined aspects of a cognitive process model that suggests a relationship between problem-solvers' beliefs about mathematical story problems and generation of the mental representation used to solve them. Five beliefs are addressed: confidence, persistence, importance, diagramming as a strategy, and equation-drive (the search to find an underlying equation). Following administration of the Mathematical Story Problem Belief Scales (MSPBS), regression analysis was used to compare the beliefs of 367 high school students to their performance on six story problems. While effect sizes were small but statistically significant, findings show that, of the five beliefs, confidence was the best overall predictor followed by equation-drive; equation-drive predicted performance on routine problems; persistence predicted performance on process problems; importance predicted performance on both types of problems; confidence is a multidimensional belief composed of persistence and importance; and confidence may be undermined by a high level of equation-drive. Text includes detail on the construction, reliabilities, and validation of the MSPBS.