Engagement In Mathematics Research Articles

The Use of Activity, Classroom Discussion, and Exercise (ACE) Teaching Cycle for Improving Students’ Engagement in Learning Elementary Linear Algebra

The main focus of the study was to identify the the effects of the ACE teaching cycle approach on students’ engagement in learning of Elementary Linear Algebra. The Elementary Linear Algebra course was delivered at the Mathematics Education Study Program of State University of Padang, Indonesia. An action research methodology was adopted for the study and the constructivist theory was used as a theoretical framework. This study used mixed methods to collect, describe, and interpret the data. The data were collected through focus group discussion, classroom observations, and questionnaire. The participants in this study consisted of 37 students enrolled in the Elementary Linear Algebra course during the January-June 2011 semester. The ACE teaching cycle approach that was implemented in this study consisted of three steps. The first step in this cycle was the concept maps activity. This activity encouraged students to prepare for the topics that would be discussed in the class. The next step was classroom discussion which provided a social context in which the students could work together to solve mathematics problems. Finally, exercises were assigned as homework. In this part, students practised solving mathematics problems and wrote reflective journal. Students’ involvement in the ACE teaching cycle approach in the Elementary Linear Algebra course improved their engagement in mathematics learning in the three domains of cognitive engagement, affective engagement and behavioural engagement.

“My parents are pretty pleased with my maths”: students’ navigation of identity stories about mathematics

ABSTRACT Although it is assumed that parents influence their children’s lives, little is known about how students navigate between their own expectations and their parents’ views of mathematics and how this navigation affects mathematical learning. Using an exemplary case of Philip, we illustrate how he made sense of his father’s high expectations related to his engagement with mathematics. There were three tensions evident in Philip’s stories about mathematics related to these expectations: the utility of mathematics for his future career; his expectations of doing well in mathematics; and the value of mathematics teachers. The results, elaborated on by the perspectives of the other students in Philip’s Year 10 class, shed light on the complexity and fluidity of secondary school students’ identities, in relationship to their mathematical engagement.

Effects of digital games on student motivation in mathematics: A meta‐analysis in K‐12

AbstractBackgroundMotivation is an important factor in the learning process and supporting students' motivation in mathematics is a significant challenge for educators. Educational technologies, such as digital games, offer potential for engagement in mathematics learning activities.ObjectivesTo contrast the general decrement in student motivation in mathematics, a multilevel meta‐analysis was carried out to synthesize the results of studies concerning the impact of digital games on K‐12 student motivation in mathematics.MethodsStandardized measure of effect size (dppc2) for pre‐ post‐control group designs was used, and different sources of dependency among the effects were taken into account. Moreover, through meta‐regressions, we examined whether specific characteristics of the participants, interventions and outcomes were associated with effect size differences throughout the studies.Results and ConclusionsA total of 20 primary studies (43 effect sizes) meeting eligibility criteria was included. Results showed a significant overall effect (dppc2 = 0.27; 95%CI = [0.14; 0.41]) and a great heterogeneity between studies. Moderator analyses showed differences in effect size associated to the duration of intervention and motivational construct in terms of expectancy and value.ImplicationsOverall, the findings indicate that digital games are effective tools compared to conventional teaching practices. The results are promising and could be useful for the design of digital educational interventions aimed at promoting motivation in mathematics.

Factors that promote interest and engagement in learning mathematics for low-achieving primary students across three learning settings

Factors that promote interest and engagement in learning mathematics for low-achieving primary students across three learning settings

Examining the Relations between Emotions, Motivation, Classroom Engagement and Achievement in Mathematics

The purpose of this correlational research was to examine the relationship between achievement emotions, motivation, and classroom engagement in mathematics among Turkish middle school students, and to determine how these three variables predicted academic achievement in mathematics. 549 seventh grade students in a province located in the south-west region of Turkey participated in the study. Relations among variables were examined by utilizing structural equation modeling. Results of this study provided evidence for the theoretical model that explained the relations between achievement emotions, motivation and classroom engagement and their contributions to a significant amount of mathematic achievement in Turkish contexts. In addition, it was found that the contributions of achievement emotions to engagement depend on whether they were activity- and outcome-focused or deactivating and activating emotions.

Engaging Students with Integrated STEM Education: a Happy Marriage or a Failed Engagement?

The “leaky pipeline” with regard to students’ engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) has triggered extensive research to understand and prevent students dropping out from STEM. To boost enrolment and interest in STEM fields, integrated STEM (iSTEM) education could be harnessed by providing students with relevant challenges. This study investigated (1) the evolution of affective outcomes regarding science and mathematics over time in traditional education, (2) the impact of an iSTEM curriculum on affective outcomes with regard to science and mathematics, and (3) the differential effectiveness of the iSTEM curriculum regarding student characteristics. Therefore, an iSTEM intervention was developed and evaluated over the course of 2 years. In total, 859 grade 9 students, distributed across 39 different Belgian schools, participated in the longitudinal study. The results of multilevel analyses show that students’ attitudes, motivation, and self-efficacy with regard to science and mathematics tend to become less positive over time in traditional education. On the other hand, iSTEM education had positive effects on attitudes towards science and mathematics. However, negative results were observed with regard to motivation and self-efficacy outcomes. In addition, intervention effects differed for boys and girls and for students at different socioeconomic status levels. Our results indicate that iSTEM has the potential to improve students’ attitudes towards STEM, but that we should be careful with regard to the implementation of this approach in terms of student motivation and self-efficacy.

MATHEMATICS TEACHER’S ENGAGEMENT AND STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION TO LEARN MATHEMATICS

Effective teachers are those who are highly engaged and who have an essential role in promoting student motivation and achievement. Thus, this study was conducted to ascertain the engagement of Mathematics teachers and its relation to the learning motivation of students in a state college in the Philippines. It employed the mixed methods, specifically Creswell’s (2014) sequential explanatory approach, with the survey-questionnaire, interview, and focus group discussion as data collection techniques. The findings of the study revealed that teacher’s engagement in Mathematics in terms of “Body Language and Behaviors,” “Consistent Focus,” and “Individual Attention,” were “Very High” while “Rigorous Thinking,” “Meaningfulness of Work,” “Verbal Participation,” “Clarity of Teaching,” “Performance Orientation,” “Interest and Enthusiasm,” and “Confidence,” were only “High.” Meanwhile, students’ motivation to learn Mathematics as to “Relevance,” “Interest,” “Satisfaction,” and “Confidence” were also “High”. The test of hypothesis on significant correlation showed that there was a close association between teacher’s engagement in Mathematics and students’ motivation to learn Mathematics. There was also a corroboration between the quantitative data obtained from the survey and the qualitative data acquired during the interview and focus group discussion. The result further implied that teacher’s high engagement contributes positively to students’ willingness to learn essential concepts and skills in Mathematics.

Linking K-12 STEM Pedagogy to Local Contexts: A Scoping Review of Benefits and Limitations

Student engagement and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields in primary and secondary schools is increasingly being emphasized as the importance of STEM skills for future careers is realized. Localized learning has been identified as a group of pedagogical approaches that may enhance learning in STEM by making the relevance of STEM clear to students and providing stronger connections to students’ lives and contexts. This paper reports on a scoping review that was conducted to identify the benefits and limitations of localized learning in primary and secondary school STEM disciplines. A secondary aim of the review was to identify strategies that increase the effectiveness of localized learning these disciplines. Following literature searches of four databases, 1923 articles were identified. Twenty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. Potential benefits of localized learning included increases in enjoyment of STEM, improvements in learning, more positive STEM career aspirations, and development of transferable skills. The main challenges of these pedagogical approaches were time restrictions and lack of community involvement. Strategies for enhancing the impact of localized pedagogy included professional development for teachers (in STEM content knowledge, integration of localized pedagogy, and capacity to address socio-scientific issues), integration of technology, whole-school implementation of the pedagogical approach, and integration of the wider community into STEM education. These findings provide support for localized learning as an effective pedagogical approach to enhance STEM learning in schools, while emphasizing the critical roles of teachers and communities in supporting students to realize the relevance of STEM in their lives.

Progressive pedagogies made visible: Implications for equitable mathematics teaching

AbstractThis paper makes a significant contribution to contemporary debates over the direction curriculum reforms should take. It challenges claims that progressive pedagogies can exclude disadvantaged learners from gaining access to powerful knowledge and argues that greater attention needs to be given to learner agency and subject didactics. It reports on the findings from the Visible Maths Pedagogy research project, which aimed to develop and evaluate strategies for making progressive pedagogies more visible to mathematics learners. Evidence collected from student surveys and interviews suggests that these novel strategies were successful in heightening students' appreciation of the teacher's pedagogic rationale for employing progressive teaching approaches. They appeared to have a positive impact on students' mathematical engagement and awareness of how to achieve success in the secondary school mathematics classroom, particularly for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The findings highlight the potential of progressive pedagogies made visible for establishing an alternative didactic situation based on socio‐mathematical norms associated with ‘sense making’, rather than ‘answer getting’, which can help develop students' individual and collective agency. We argue that such a didactic situation offers a pathway towards a more equitable mathematics curriculum that enables wider access to powerful knowledge, and which forms an integral part of a school curriculum designed to address the environmental, economic and social challenges currently faced by our global society.

Mathematics Engagement Clinic Grounded on Brain Dominance: Its Effect on Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills, and Mathematics Achievement

In the new normal, border-crossing of digital culture among learners are prevalent in their attitude and learning preference. Cognitive preferences such as the students’ brain dominance must be considered in an enhancement program and modular distance learning is an additional option. With a post positivist worldview through one sample quasi-experimental research design, the study evoked the effects of the Mathematics Engagement Clinic (MEC) grounded on brain dominance to critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and mathematics achievement. The results showed a wide mean difference in the mean percentage of scores in the level of critical thinking and problemsolving skills and mathematics achievement. After the thinking processes mentioned were compared before and after an enhancement program MEC was given, a significant difference was found through a non-parametric Wilcoxon – signed rank test. Hence, despite the non-normal distribution of participants in the study MEC has managed to cater to the participants’ preferences to act, think and learn. With the positive effect of the enhancement program MEC grounded on brain dominance on the thinking processes and Mathematics achievement of the participants, the researcher has constructed a modular Mathematics enhancement program framework as a guide to teacher researchers in the planning, designing, redesigning and implementing modular Mathematics enhancement programs grounded on brain dominance to hone and enhance thinking processes such as critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and thereby, improve Mathematics achievement. MEC is a timely enhancement program to consider in the new normal setting in education to improve the lens of the teaching and learning process.

Pre-service teachers’ mathematical engagement in learning about the total surface areas of geometrical solids

In this article we report on pre-service teachers’ mathematical engagement regarding the total surface areas of geometric solids. Despite several attempts at improvement, the poor performance of South African learners in mathematics persists. This is attributed to instructional approaches. In the study reported on here we explored how pre-service teachers communicate conjectures, justifications, and generalisations to develop formulae for geometric solids. We employed a qualitative descriptive case study within the interpretive paradigm. Data were collected through document analysis and students’ written tasks. Four tasks were administered to 30 pre-service teachers to enable the researchers to reflect on their performance. Students’ written tasks were analysed with the aid of the model of mathematical knowledge for teaching, which served as the theoretical underpinning of the study. The findings of the study reveal that students can develop mathematical engagement and reasoning when appropriate tasks are designed to facilitate understanding of key concepts that are the cornerstone of learning about geometric solids. Certain concepts, notably, circles, radii, pi, rectangles, cones, Pythagoras’ theorem, slanting height, congruence, and prism, were crucial elements that should be explored prior to the introduction of the topic of the total surface areas of geometric solids. The study was an eye-opener to South African policy makers, mathematics teachers and lecturers in terms of identifying students’ weaknesses at pre-service level on how to develop logical methods to make sense in the learning of geometrical solids.

Mathematics Achievement: The Relationship between Student Engagement, Parental Involvement, and Peer Influence

Mathematics is an important subject as a skill and foundation to further learning at the university level. In this regard, the engagement of students in the learning of mathematics is required so that mathematical knowledge and skills can be learned and mastered as much as possible. Previous study showed that student engagement, parental involvement, and peer influence affect mathematics achievement at a university. The purpose of this is to examine the relationship between mathematics achievement, the three aspect of student engagement, parental involvement, and peer influence. Data were collected from a total sample of 284 undergraduate students at a private university in Malaysia. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses were used to analyse the data. Mathematics achievement was positively related to cognitive engagement and affective engagement, while behavioural engagement did not affect their achievement. Parental involvement and peer influence, on the other hand, are negatively related with mathematics achievement. More studies that concentrated on the relationship between parental involvement, peer influence, and student engagement in the future are encouraged to establish students' engagement in mathematics learning that vital to increase their mathematics achievement. A qualitative study should be considered in order to obtain more information from respondents.

Teacher Enthusiasm, Supportive Instructional Practices, and Student Motivation in Mathematics Classrooms

This longitudinal study examined the relations between teacher enthusiasm, supportive instructional practices, and students’ mastery goal orientation and behavioral engagement in mathematics. All variables were assessed by means of student reports. A total of 751 9th and 10th grade secondary school students from 46 mathematics classrooms were presented with questionnaires at the beginning (Time 1) and the middle of the school year (Time 2). Structural equation analyses revealed that student-perceived teacher enthusiasm at Time 1 predicted student-perceived support for autonomy, competence, social relatedness, and subject matter relevance at Time 2. Student-perceived support for autonomy and social relatedness (Time 2) were related to students’ mastery goal orientation and their behavioral engagement (Time 2). Moreover, student-perceived teacher enthusiasm (Time 1) indirectly predicted students’ mastery goal orientation (Time 2) via student-perceived support for social relatedness and autonomy (Time 2). The findings contribute to research aimed at identifying teacher characteristics and instructional processes that promote student motivation.

STUDENTS' ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR PERFORMANCES IN MATHEMATICS

This study aimed at determining the relationship between students' engagement (behavioral, emotional and cognitive engagement) and their performance in Mathematics of grade 6 pupils of Malaban Elementary School. Descriptive correlational method research design was employed in this study. In this study, the instruments used are survey questionnaire of Bivariate Analysis and Chi-square The results show that the students gave a unifying perception on their level of behavioral engagement (2.90-engage), emotional engagement (2.74-engage), cognitive engagement (2.98- engage) in Mathematics.The mean performance of students in Mathematics was satisfactory with an average of 80.42 median of 80 mode of 76 and standard deviation of 3.77.The researchers concluded that there is significant evidence to reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there was a moderate,positive relationship between academic performance and behavioral engagement. For the emotional and academic performance there was a significant evidence to accept the null hypothesis and conclude that was no relationship between academic performance and emotional engagement, while there was a moderate, positive relationship between cognitive engagement and academic performance. The researchers recommended to initiate activities that can help boost the students' engagement in Mathematics for it was shown some significant relationship to their mathematics performance

Technology enhanced learning environments and the potential for enhancing spatial reasoning: a mixed methods study

Spatial reasoning has been shown to be an important, trainable cognitive skillset for developing successful engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), but little empirical work has been conducted in the context of digitally mediated pedagogies. This paper reports on a study into the effectiveness of a technologically enhanced STEM program on the spatial reasoning of a cohort of year 7 students (n = 107). The students undertook five digitally based activities over the period of a week and were assessed on their spatial reasoning development and attitudes towards STEM prior and subsequent to the intervention. Results indicate that the week of learning activities had an impact on attitudes towards STEM and had a positive impact on overall spatial skills. However, no statistically significant improvements were found within the spatial sub-skills or in relation to specific activities.

Motivational and Emotional Orientation, Engagement, and Achievement in Mathematics. A Case Study With One Sixth-Grade Classroom Working With an Electronic Textbook on Fractions

Interactive and adaptive scaffolds implemented in electronic mathematics textbooks bear high potential for supporting students individually in learning mathematics. In this paper, we argue that emotional and behavioral engagement may account for the effectiveness of such digital curriculum resources. Following the general model for determinants and course of motivated action, we investigated the relationship between students’ domain-specific motivational and emotional orientations (person)—while working with an electronic textbook on fractions (situation), their emotional and behavioral engagement while learning (action), and their achievement after tuition (outcome). We conducted a case-study withN= 27 students from one sixth-grade classroom, asking about the relationship between students’ motivational and emotional orientations and their emotional and behavioral engagement, and whether emotional and behavioral engagement are unique predictors of students’ cognitive learning outcomes while working with an e-textbook. For that, we designed a four-week-intervention on fractions using an e-textbook on iPads. Utilizing self-reports and process data referring to students’ interactions with the e-textbook we aimed to describe if and how students make use of the offered learning opportunities. Despite being taught in the same classroom, results indicated large variance in students’ motivational and emotional orientations before the intervention, as well as in their emotional and behavioral engagement during the intervention. We found substantial correlations between motivational and emotional orientations (i.e., anxiety, self-concept, and enjoyment) and emotional engagement (i.e., intrinsic motivation, competence and autonomy support, situational interest, and perceived demand)—with positive orientations being associated with positive emotional engagement, as expected. Although the correlations between orientations and behavioral engagement (i.e., task, exercise, and hint count, problem solving time, and feedback time) also showed the expected directions, effect sizes were smaller than for emotional engagement. Generalized linear mixed models revealed that emotional engagement predicted cognitive learning outcomes uniquely, while for behavioral engagement the interaction with prior knowledge was a significant predictor. Taken together, they accounted for a variance change of 44% in addition to prior knowledge. We conclude that when designing digital learning environments, promoting engagement—in particular in students who share less-promizing prerequisites—should be considered a key feature.

Motivation Matters: Three Strategies to Support Motivation and Engagement in Mathematics

Motivation and engagement in mathematics are important for academic success and are sometimes compromised in students with disabilities who have experienced a history of frustration and failure. This article explains how general and special education teachers can implement three research-supported strategies for boosting motivation and engagement for elementary students with or at risk of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) in the mathematics classroom. The strategies include (a) reinforcing engagement and motivation in mathematics using behavior-specific praise and token economy systems; (b) teaching self-monitoring and self-regulation strategies to promote attentive behavior and academic achievement; and (c) using the high-preference strategy to build behavioral momentum and support completion of nonpreferred tasks.

#Mathathome during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring and Reimagining Resources and Social Supports for Parents

During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools abruptly transitioned to emergency remote instruction. Consequently, expectations for parental involvement in school mathematics rose to unprecedented levels. We sought to understand the experiences of parents to reimagine possibilities for engagement in mathematics during and beyond the pandemic. Leveraging data from tweets using #mathathome and survey responses from parents, we identified who supported continued mathematics learning at home and explored the nature of the mathematics taught there. We found that Twitter and survey data sources described two largely distinct groups of those supporting parents to continue mathematics education at home, but similar findings emerged from analyses of each data source, suggesting that themes were common among different groups. Namely, we saw a commitment to continued mathematics learning and engagement with a range of mathematics topics. These topics mostly focused on elementary-level content, especially counting, through everyday activities/objects and mathematical sense-making. Most parents used resources provided by the school alongside resources they identified and provided on their own. School responses to emergency remote instruction were mostly asynchronous, and parents expressed a need for more opportunities to interact directly with their children’s teachers. We discuss what the mathematics education community might learn from these experiences to support parental engagement during and beyond periods of remote emergency instruction.

Mathematical Engagement through Family Communication

This article examines action research findings within a fourth-grade mathematics classroom. The researcher explores the effects of positive communication to family members on the engagement of learners receiving Tier 2 behavioral support, as well as potential considerations for building young learners’ mathematical identities.

Mathematics success against the odds: the case of a low socioeconomic status, rural Australian school with sustained high mathematics performance

Mathematics education is seen as a right for all children, and important to ensure a prosperous future. However, in Australia and other nations, rural students and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds both perform less well in mathematics and are less likely to pursue advanced mathematics. This paper presents a case study of a low socioeconomic status, rural government school that has high engagement and achievement in senior mathematics, despite its setting. The study uses a conceptual framework informed by Appreciative Inquiry and the theory of Practice Architectures to explore the activities and facilitatory elements that have likely contributed to the school’s mathematics success. Rather than being attributed to one or two key programmes, the school’s mathematics success seemed associated with a collection of whole-school factors. Setting high expectations while providing proactive learning support, differentiating instruction, emphasising the value of mathematics, linking mathematics to careers, and building mathematics teacher capacity were all associated with the school’s higher than expected mathematics performance. Rather than hindering the school’s mathematics programme, its small size and rural context were used to enable practices that contributed to mathematics success.