The Role of Self-Efficacy in Dialogue and Argumentation for Enhanced Academic Performance of Ordinary Level Mathematics Students in Zimbabwe

The purpose of this study sought to determine the role of self-efficacy in dialogue and argumentation to improve students’ academic performance in O’ level Mathematics. The study employed a mixed methods approach to collect quantitative data using teachers’ questionnaires and qualitative data using interviews with the participating Mathematics Heads of Departments. The subjects of this study consisted of 66 O’ level Mathematics teachers who were randomly selected and 10 Mathematics Head of Department who were purposively selected at particular schools in Zimbabwe. Hypotheses were tested using the structural equation modelling approach that employed AMOS version 22. Thematic analysis was used in qualitative analytic procedures to process the interview. The empirical findings of the study established that that mathematical self-efficacy is both a catalyst and enabler for productive dialogic engagement and academic success in Mathematics. The findings of the study might not be generalised to other academic levels like or tertiary institutions since it was limited to the role of self-efficacy in dialogue and argumentation for enhanced academic performance of ordinary level mathematics students. Results of this study have implications for both policy and practice with regards to the teaching of ordinary level mathematics in Zimbabwe.

Dialogue and argumentation, Mathematics achievement

1. Acar, O. (2015). Examination of science learning equity through argumentation and traditional instruction noting differences in socio-economic status. Science Education International, 26(1), 24-41. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Alexander, R. & Hardman, F. (2017).Towards Dialogic Teaching: Rethinking Classroom Talk. Thirsk. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Alexander, R. (2017). Developing dialogue: Process, trial, outcomes. http://.robinalexander.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/EARLI-2017-170825. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Al-momani, A. & Atoum, A.Y. (2018). Perceived Self-Efficacy and Academic Achievement among Jo classroom rdanian Students.Trends Tech Sci Res; 3(1), 555602. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Alrabai, F. (2018). The Association between Self-efficacy of Saudi Learners and their EFL Academic Performance. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 8(10), 1351-1360. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Arifin, S., Wahyudin, W., & Herman, T. (2021). The effect of students’ mathematics on mathematical understanding performance. Ilkogretim on-line- Elementary Education online, 20(1), 617-627. http://ilkonline.2021.01.52 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Arista, N. J., Dwi, J. & Raden, S. (2018). Students’ Argumentation for solving Geometry in Junior High school .Advances in Intelligent Systems Research (AISR), 157. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Balimuttajjo, S., Mukuka, A. & Mutarutinya, V. (2021). Mediating effects of self-efficacy on the relationship between instruction and students’ mathematical reasoning. Journal on Mathematics Education, 12(1), 73-92. http://.org/ 10.22342/jme.12.1.12508.73-93 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control.W.H. Freeman. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Bartimote-Aufflick, K., Bridgeman, B., Walker, A., Sharma, J., & Smith, A. (2016). The Study, evaluation, and improvement of University Student Self-efficacy. Studies in Higher Education, 1918-1942. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Bonne. L. & Lawes.E. (2016). Assessing Students’ maths self-efficacy and achievement. 20, 17-28. http://.org/10.18296/set.0048 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Buibas, M., & Stankous, N., (2015).Challenges and benefits those new technologies bring to teaching mathematics. In Proceedings of the Asian Conference on Education & International Development (pp.203-210). Osaka, Japan: The international Academic Forum (IAFOR). http://papers.iafor.org/conference-proceedings/ACEID/ACEID 2015-proceedings.pdf. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Cabanas-Sanchez, G., Reid, D. & Cervantes-Barraza, J. A. (2019). Complex Argumentation in Elementary School. PNA 13(4), 221-246. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Comek, A., Saricayir, H., & Erdogan, Y. (2015). Effectiveness of the argumentation method: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Human Science, 12(2), 1881-1889. 10.146867/ijhs.v12i2.3522. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Cordova, C. C., & Tan, D. A. (2018). Mathematics Proficiency, Attitude and Performance of Grade 9 students in Private High Schools in Bukidnon, Philippines. Asian Academic Research Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities. 5(2), 103-116. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Creswell, J. W. (2015). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating qualitative and quantitative research 〖(5〗^thed). Pearson. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Daryn, E.S. (2018). It’s good to talk: moving towards dialogic teaching. Journal of the Chartered College of Teaching. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Denisia, S. P. & Jeyanthi, J., (2015). Self-efficacy beliefs in mathematics teaching and learning. International Journal of Scientific and Technical Advancements, 1(4), 15-17. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Dickson, O. (2018). Effects of extrinsic motivation on secondary school students’ academic achievement in social studies. International Journal of Education (IJE), 6(3), 1-7.10.5121/ije.2018.6301. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Dullus, A. R. (2018). The Development of Academic Self-efficacy Scale for Filipino Junior High School Students. Front.Educ.3 (19) .10.3389/feduc.2018.00019. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Esmaeilli, F., Nouri, A., Seifpour, S., Talkhabi, M., & Khorami, A. (2018). The impact of dialogic learning on students’ attention and Academic achievement. Annal Behav Neurosci, 1 (1), 47-55. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Garon-Carrier, G. (2016). Intrinsic Motivation and Achievement in Mathematics in Elementary School: A Longitudinal Investigation of Their Association. https:// corpus.ulavol.ca. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Gencoglan, D. M. & Ural, E. (2020). The effect of Argumentation-Based Science Teaching Approach on 8^th Graders’ Learning in the subject of Acids-Bases, their attitudes towards science class and scientific process skills. Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 16 (1). https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/6369. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Guba, E. D., & Lincoln. Y.S. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills: Sage. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. Gupta, A., & Kundu, A. (2017).The relationship between self-efficacy and achievement in mathematics among secondary students. International Seminar on Education for All-issues, Challenges and Perspectives. 978-93-526-710-8. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Hair, J. P., Black, J. P., Babin, J.P., & Anderson, R. E. (2019). Multivariate Data Analysis, Eighth Edition. Cengage Learning. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. Hennessy, S. Howe, C.; Vrikki, M.; Wheatley, L & Mercer, N. (2018). Dialogic practices in primary school classrooms, Language and Education. 10.1080/09500782. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Howell, D.C. (2010). Statistical Methods for Psychology (Seventh Edition). Wadsworth Cengage Learning. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. Lin, F. L., & Wu, S. (2016). Inquiry-based mathematics curriculum design for young children-teaching experiment and reflection. Euarasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 12(4), 843-860. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. Makamure, C. (2018). Evoking motivation for achievement in O’level mathematics in Zimbabwe. International Journal of Education (IJE), 6(4).10.5121/ije.6402. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

31. Marat, D. (2017). Secondary school students’ self-efficacy in mathematics and achievement in diverse schools. Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies [JEPS] 9(2), 312-324. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

32. Matt, S. M. & Roslan, N. A. (2019). Systematic Literature Review on Secondary School Students’ Mathematics Self-efficacy. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(4), 975-987. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

33. Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. Zimbabwe Education BluePrint 2015-2022. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

34. Muhonen, H. (2018). Educational Dialogue in the classroom: Scaffolding, Knowledge Building and Associations with Academic Performance. University of Jyva ̈skyla ̈. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

35. Musa, J. H. (2019). Dialogic versus Formalist Teaching in Developing Argumentative writing Discourse and Reducing Speaking Apprehension among EFL majors. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 10(5), 895-905. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

36. Odiri, E.O. (2020). Relationship between students’ self-efficacy and their achievement in senior secondary school mathematics, Delta Central Senatorial District, Nigeria. International Journal of Education and Research, 8(5). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

37. Phillipson, N., & Wegerif, R. (2017). Dialogic education: Mastering core concepts through thinking together. Routledge. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

38. Potari, D. & Psycharis, G. (2018). Prospective Mathematics teacher argumentation while interpreting classroom incidents. Educating Prospective Secondary Mathematics Teachers, 13, 169-187. htts://org/10.1007/978-3-319-91059-8-10. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

39. Prabawanto. S. (2018). The enhancement of students’ mathematical self-efficacy through teaching with metacognitive scaffolding approach. 10p conf.series: Journal of Physics: conf.series, 1013 (2018) 012135. 10.1088/1742-6596/1013/1/012135. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

40. Rapanta, C. (2019). Argumentation as critically oriented Pedagogical Dialogue. Informal Logic, 39(1), 1-31. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

41. Richardson, L. I., Sherman, H. J., & Yard, G. J. (2015). Teaching Learners who struggle with mathematics: Responding with systematic intervention and remediation.(3rd ed). Waveland Press, Inc. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

42. Siew, P, H. (2018). Pedagogical Change in Mathematics Learning: Harnessing the power of Digital Game- Based Learning. Educational Technology and Society, 21(4), 259-276. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

43. Telenius, M., Yli-Panule, E., Vesterinen, V., & Vauras, M., (2020). Argumentation with upper secondary school student groups during virtual Science Learning: Quality and Quantity of Spoken Argumentation. Educ.Sci, 10(393). 10.3390/edusci10120393. Zimbabwe School Examinations council [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Interplay of Students’ Emotional Intelligence and Attitude toward Mathematics on Performance in Grade 10 Algebra
• Numerical Simulation of Fitzhugh-Nagumo Dynamics Using a Finite Difference-Based Method of Lines
• Fixed Point Theorem in Controlled Metric Spaces
• Usage of Moving Average to Heart Rate, Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar
• Exploring Algebraic Topology and Homotopy Theory: Methods, Empirical Data, and Numerical Examples