This work addresses the issue of self-assessment, particularly overestimation, in mathematics among first-year female students. The quantitative study examines the influence of task characteristics and feedback on mathematical performance, self-efficacy expectations, and calibration among first-year students in business studies. The findings indicate that task characteristics, such as the curricular knowledge level and the scope of the tasks, affect self-efficacy expectations and actual performance in different ways. Within the first semester, the examined cohort experiences changes in self-efficacy expectations and performance, resulting in a significant reduction in overestimation. The extent to which feedback contributed to this cannot be definitively determined due to methodological constraints.

The author, Angela Laging, is a teacher of mathematics and art at a secondary school.