Investigation of the Relationship between Estimation Skill, Estimation Skill Self-efficacy, and Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between secondary school students’ estimation skills, estimation skills self-efficacies and academic achievements. The research was designed in a correlational survey model, one of the quantitative research models and it was carried out in Adana, a city in the Mediterranean Region during the spring semester of the 2020-2021 academic year with secondary school students (n=155) who were selected by maximum variation sampling method, one of the purposive sampling methods. The Estimation Skills Self-Efficacy Scale that was developed by Er, Artut and Bal (2021) was used to determine the students' estimation self-efficacy. Also, the Estimation Skill Test which was developed by the researchers was used to determine the students’ estimation skills. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis techniques were made use of in the process of data analysis. The research findings showed that the students' estimation skills were at moderate level and their estimation self-efficacy levels were low. It was also concluded that the students’ estimation skills and their estimation self-efficacies differed according to their grade levels. Furthermore, it was found that there was a positive and moderate relationship between students' estimation skills and estimation self-efficacies and a positive and moderate relationship between their estimation skills and academic achievements. It was also determined that there is a positive and moderately significant relationship between estimation self-efficacies and academic achievement. In addition to this, it was seen that students' estimation self-efficacies and academic achievements explained 17% of the total variance of their estimation skills. In other words, students' estimation skills increase in parallel with their estimation skill self-efficacies and academic achievements.