Self-efficacy and Academic Performance of Mathematics Students in a South African University during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Students’ learning contexts are capable of having a significant impact on their learning beliefs and academic performance. As a result, students studying during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak may be at risk of lower academic self-efficacy and subject grades. These students may also hold specific ideas regarding the impact of COVID-19-related changes on their ability to succeed, which could have a direct impact on their self-efficacy and academic performance. Thus, this study seeks to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the self-efficacy and academic performance of mathematics students in a South African university. The paper also sought to examine how teaching and learning in a mathematics education classroom can be sustained post-COVID-19 pandemic. As such, the study was underpinned by an interpretivist paradigm. The study employed a qualitative research approach and a case study design in which the participant of the study were mathematics education lecturers, heads of departments, and pre-service mathematics student-teachers registered for the 2019/20 academic session at the faculty of education in the selected university. Data for the study was collected through the use of a semi-structured interview. The findings of the study revealed that although students’ self-efficacy is adversely impacted by negative emotions like tension, the psychological strain of confinement, academic workload demands, online assessment, and the loss of relatives brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, these factors have no impact on students’ academic performance. Furthermore, findings revealed that for the teaching and learning of mathematics education to be sustained post-COVID-19 pandemic, there is a dire need for a change in curriculum as well as the pedagogical approaches. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that even though the original goal of the sudden transition in the education system was to salvage the academic year, it is now evident that maintaining teaching and learning in higher education institutions will require more than just changing instructional delivery but mathematics education lecturers should adopt the lessons learned from online instruction and develop opportunities for a hybrid approach to teaching-learning. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, Mathematics education, Performance, Self-efficacy, Sustainable