The Role of Self-Efficacy and Mathematics ability in the Problem Solving Mathematics

The problem solving skills are part of learning mathematics and an important component of 21st century education. But students often experience success doing it. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between mathematical abilities, self-efficacy and problem solving abilities. This is a result of low mathematical abilities and self-efficacy. The research was a survey. Samples were randomly selected as many as 135 students from whole high school students in the Kota Bengkulu. The research instruments were a self-efficacy questionnaire, a mathematical ability test and a mathematical problem solving test. Data was analyzed using structural equation modeling. We used LISREL 8.8 to test the structural model. The results, there is a positive direct effect of mathematics ability on problem solving abilities; there is a positive direct effect of self-efficacy on problem solving abilities, and there is a positive direct effect of mathematics ability on self-efficacy.