Abstract
The importance of motivation in mathematics education is expressed in the large number of studies related to the teaching and learning process. Improving students’ motivation in the mathematics classroom is a fundamental issue for teachers, investigators, and policymakers, due to its relevance in the students’ behavior and academic success. The Academic Motivation Scale is a highly applied tool to evaluate students’ motivation based on Self-Determination Theory. In Portugal, there is a lack in the analysis of the different domains of mathematics motivation defined by Self-Determination Theory, for students attending basic education. Additionally, there is no comprehensive instrument that allows that evaluation. Adapting the Academic Motivation Scale, the purpose of this study is to assess the mathematics motivation of Portuguese students who attend the third cycle of basic education. In addition, it is intended to analyze the properties of this new instrument using a sample of 349 Portuguese students aged between 12 and 17. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis indicated a very good validity and reliability of this measuring instrument of mathematics students’ motivation. The results of this work allow the development of educational policies that promote strategies to increase students’ motivation in mathematics.
Highlights
This research provides evidence that student achievement depends on a whole range of factors that can be grouped into three categories: family characteristics, school characteristics, and the student himself
In line with the literature, in this study Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) are simultaneously performed, in order to guarantee that all items of the Mathematics Academic Motivation Scale (MATAMS) are grouped adequately by double-check analysis
EFA aims to simplify the database obtained by evaluating how much each factor is associated with each variable, as well analyzing how much the set of factors explains the variability of the results obtained in that sample, through the sum of the variances of the original variables [73]
Summary
An extensive multidisciplinary empirical literature has assessed the factors that influence students’ achievement, including studies in Economics of Education (e.g., [1,2,3,4]), as well in other social sciences (e.g., [5,6,7,8,9]). This research provides evidence that student achievement depends on a whole range of factors that can be grouped into three categories: family characteristics, school characteristics, and the student himself. The students’ characteristics and their families are the main factors influencing student achievement gains, as expected [3]. This research suggests that among school-related factors, namely the teacher’s characteristics and class size, appear to matter for student’s performance [4]
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