Reading comprehension, Mathematics self-efficacy perception, and Mathematics attitude as correlates of students’ non-routine Mathematics problem-solving skills in Turkey

Literature that investigates the factors affecting problem-solving evaluates the cognitive and affective components, such as reading comprehension, metacognition, Mathematics anxiety, Mathematics attitude and Mathematics self-efficacy. Recently, studies have shown that Mathematics attitude and Mathematics self-efficacy as affective factors, and reading comprehension as a cognitive factor could play a crucial role in the problem-solving of middle school students. This study investigated the influence of reading comprehension skill, Mathematics self-efficacy perception and Mathematics attitude on non-routine Mathematics problem-solving skills. It is hypothesized that non-routine problem-solving skills are related to reading comprehension skills, Mathematics self-efficacy perception and Mathematics attitudes. To achieve this aim, a reading comprehension skill test, a Mathematics self-efficacy perception scale, a Mathematics attitude scale and a non-routine problem-solving skill test were applied. The instruments were completed by 362 middle school students. A correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship of variables on non-routine problem-solving skills, and the predictive effects of the predictor variables on non-routine Mathematics problem-solving skills were examined by hierarchical regression analysis. The analysis also showed that for middle-school students’ non-routine Mathematics problem-solving skills, all related factors–reading comprehension, Mathematics self-efficacy perception and Mathematics attitude were significant. Reading comprehension skills and Mathematics self-efficacy perception significantly predicted problem-solving skills, and both predictors explained a total of 22% of the total variance.