Epistemological belief, reflective thinking and mathematics interest as a predictor of students’ mathematics performance: mediation analysis via structural equation modeling (SEM)

Abstract

This study aimed to investigates the mediating roles of of mathematics interest in the nexus between epistemological belief, reflective thinking, and students’ mathematics performance. This study employed a cross‐sectional survey design. The target population consists of secondary‐school students with a sample size of 345 students. The data was gathered using a structured questionnaire, which was developed on a five-point Likert scale. The data gathered was analyzed using a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) via Amos version 23 to respond to the research hypotheses. The study revealed that epistemological belief (EB) had a significant positive effect on students’ mathematics performance. Moreover, reflective thinking had a significant positive effect on students’ mathematics performance. In addition, mathematics interest significantly and partially mediates the nexus between epistemological belief and students’ mathematics performance. Finally, mathematical interest was found to significantly and partially mediates the nexus between reflective thinking and students’ mathematics performance. Past studies have largely focused on the effect of epistemological belief, reflective thinking and mathematics interest on students’ performance, but the indirect effect of students’ interest on the nexus between epistemological belief, reflective thinking and students’ mathematics performance is underexplored. To add to the literature, the researcher examined the mediating role of mathematics interest in the nexus between epistemological belief, reflective thinking and students’ mathematics performance.