Malaysian Journal of Mathematical Sciences, March 2026, Vol. 20, No. 1
The Effective Integration of Students' Beliefs, Goals and Learning Strategies for Enhancing Problem Solving Skills at Higher Secondary Level
Bibi, A., Tabassum, F., Kashan, S., and Ahmad, M.
Corresponding Email: aishabibi@numl.edu.pk
Received date: 20 Nov 2024
Accepted date: 21 July 2025
Abstract:
In the modern educational settings, the relationship between students' beliefs and the learning strategies to solve a problem has become important. Particularly, epistemological may greatly influence problem-solving skills through shaping students' goal orientation beliefs and learning strategies. Overall, epistemological beliefs, goal orientation beliefs, SRL had prominent effects for teaching mathematics and problem solving. Therefore, for the current study, combining these concepts were considered for further investigation. To analyze the relationship among different constructs, a comprehensive model was proposed. For the specified objectives, five diverse questionnaires were used. The relationship among different constructs, a correlational design method was used for the 430 participants. Target population was the students, studying in higher-secondary level and intermediate colleges in a province "Khyber Pakhtoon Khawa (KPK)" Pakistan. The results had shown strong correlation among beliefs, goal orientations, SRL and problem solving. The results also specified the prominent mediation role of mastery and performance goals, and elaboration. Whereas the role of avoidance and critical thinking was insignificant. The findings revealed how these factors could enhance students' ability to solve problems in real-world situations. The study also emphasized the negative effects of parents' unrealistic expectations and superficial memorization that is solely concerned with obtaining good grades. Implications have been proposed to encourage more efficient and significant learning in accordance with these findings.
Keywords: epistemological and motivational beliefs; problem solving; self-regulating learning; structural equation modelling.
