Using Digital Resources for Motivation and Engagement in Learning Mathematics: Reflections from Teachers and Students

Abstract

Students’ motivation to learn mathematics often declines during the middle grades. How do we keep students engaged with learning mathematics as it gets more complex? One way is through the use of technology, such as computer games, interactive lessons, or on-line videos. Yet evidence from creating technology-based tasks and resources to motivate students to learn mathematics is mixed, partially because most interventions only loosely incorporate motivational constructs. This article is part of a larger research project examining the impact of three digital resources on students’ motivation and learning in mathematics. In it, we provided resources tightly aligned to motivational constructs from research: self-efficacy, implicit theories of ability, and interest and enjoyment. Students then engaged with these resources before and after a 2-day mathematical patterns lesson. We present results from interviews and observations with eighty-eight fifth- to eighth-grade students and their ten teachers. Findings suggest that, even with a minimal encounter over 1 or 2 days, students were able to notice the motivational constructs present within these digital resources.