Personality Motivation and Math Achievement Among Turkish Students: Evidence From Pisa Data

Abstract

Using the Turkish portion of the Programme for International Student Assessment dataset (N=4848

51% boys 49% girls

age M=15.81 years SD=0.28) this study investigated factors associated with mathematics achievement among Turkish students. Three different models were estimated using the method of balanced repeated replication with Fay's method and taking into account the presence of five plausible values of the dependent variable. Results showed that male students and older students had better mathematics proficiency. Socio-economic status and school resources also played a significant role in explaining student achievement in mathematics. Finally students who were more open to problem solving who attributed their failure to external factors and who were intrinsically motivated to learn mathematics achieved higher scores. Policy implications are provided.