Latent Class Analysis of Students’ Mathematics Learning Strategies and the Relationship between Learning Strategy and Mathematical Literacy

This study investigated how various mathematics learning strategies affect the mathematical literacy of students. The data for this study were obtained from the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data of Taiwan. The PISA learning strategy survey contains three types of learning strategies: elaboration, control, and memorization. To objectively classify students’ learning strategies, we conducted a latent class analysis (LCA) to determine the optimal fitting latent class model of students’ performances on a learning strategy assessment and to explore the mathematical literacy of students who used various learning strategies. The result of the LCA showed that, among the models of two to five classes, the model of four classes was the optimally fitted model. The results of this study provide crucial information for mathematics educators regarding the achievement-related and strategy-related outcomes of schooling. By combining information from the assessment of mathematical literacy and survey of learning strategies that predispose students to using their mathematical literacy, a more complete picture of mathematics teaching and learning emerges. The implications of these results are discussed.