Motivating Students to Learn Mathematics in the iGrowMaths Classroom: An Innovative Adaptive Classroom in Business Mathematics Education

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the inequalities in educational attainment and achievement, especially for students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. The teaching and learning process has become more complex as students are increasingly diverse in terms of prior knowledge and learning pace. Hence, this study proposes and designs the iGrowMaths Classroom, an innovative adaptive learning classroom for Business Mathematics course at a public polytechnic in Malaysia. The purpose is to create an adaptive learning environment that builds on the level of prior knowledge and learning pace in order to promote motivation and improve achievements in mathematics. The case study design was employed to investigate the effectiveness of iGrowMaths Classroom, with the adoption of a triangulation method that involved questionnaires, interviews, and formative assessment. The findings reveal that the iGrowMaths classroom is effective in fostering the students’ motivation towards learning mathematics and thereby enhancing the learning outcomes.