Mathematical thinking styles in university students

This study explores mathematical thinking styles–visual, analytical and integrated–as well as internal and external cognitive approaches, beliefs about mathematics and self-efficacy in everyday mathematical tasks among 754 first-year college students from a selective university in Chile across Engineering, Administration and Social Sciences programmes. The results indicate that students predominantly exhibit both visual and analytical thinking styles, with a preference for external approaches while about half also identify with internal thinking. Despite high self-reported confidence and positive views of mathematics, these cognitive and affective variables show weak or no significant correlations with academic performance indicators such as university entrance exams, high school gradesor early university grades. These findings suggest that mathematical thinking styles, for this student profile, are more reflective of individual cognitive preferences than predictors of academic success, contrasting with previous studies that reported stronger associations. Implications for curriculum design and future longitudinal research are discussed.