Modeling Relationships of Affective and Metacognitive Factors on Grade Eleven Students’ Mathematics Achievement

Abstract

This study aimed at exploring causal relationships between two affective factors, self-confidence and positive emotion, and two metacognitive factors, self-reflection and insight components on high school students’ mathematics achievement that assessed by formative and summative assessments. The study applied partial least squares based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach to test the path relationships for 86 eleventh-grade students. Results revealed that formative performance was the strongest predictor of summative performance followed by self-confidence. Positive emotion revealed as having a positive indirect effect on summative performance through insight component. Considering for formative performance, self-confidence revealed as the strongest predictor followed by insight component. Self-confidence accounted as the only affective factor that directed to self-reflection components, need for and engagement in self-reflection. On the contrary, positive emotion accounted as the only affective factor that related to insight. Need for self-reflection was related to engagement in self-reflection, which in turn, related to insight. Need for self-reflection also mediated the relationship between self-confidence and engagement in self-reflection. Understand different mental processes within mathematics studies are important for future intervention exercises, especially for high school students.