College Students’ Psychological Character Traits, Word Problem Analysis Skills and Academic Achievement in Mathematics

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the relationship between character traits, word problem analysis skills, and academic achievement in mathematics among 214 college students at the College of Teacher Education at Laguna State Polytechnic University Los Baños Campus during the School Year 2020-2021. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and an achievement test and analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis. The results reveal that conscientiousness, openness to experience, and agreeableness are positively associated with word problem-solving skills, while conscientiousness is positively associated with mathematics achievement, and neuroticism is negatively associated with both academic skills. Furthermore, word problem analysis skills partially or completely mediate the relationship between character traits and academic achievement in mathematics. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at fostering certain character traits and promoting effective problem-solving strategies can improve college students' academic performance. Therefore, educators and parents should prioritize the development of word problem analysis skills and foster conscientiousness, openness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional regulation among college students. These findings have practical implications for designing interventions to improve academic achievement in mathematics and word problem-solving tasks.