Chau 1

Anh Chau

Dr. Yan Yan

CUIN 6301

11/10/2018

Education Research

Interest in and Motivation to Learn Mathematics

Mathematics teachers need to establish effective tools to engage and motivate all students

in learning and practicing new concepts and theories. This research focuses on the nature and

theories about learning motivations and what teachers can do to improve student participation

and mathematics enjoyment in their classroom.

As I have observed in 20 mathematics classrooms in 5 different districts, I found out that

there were clearly 2 main teaching methods in most classrooms: lecture - focused (teachers were

the givers of information, and students listened and took note passively) and student– centered

(students discussed, asked questions, and solved problems actively and collaboratively). I noticed

that students in active learning classroom were more engaged with math concepts and took the

initiative to practice without teachers’ reminders. On the other hand, there were more

misbehaviors (unrelated noise, sleeping, etc.) in traditional classrooms.

Based on my observation, I would like to research about the reasons behind a student’s

motivation and how I can activate their engagement by using what interests and connects them

with the real life. According to Herges, R. M. et al. (2017), enjoyment and achievement are they

key factors that impact student motivation and interest in learning mathematics. The author

indicated that “Enjoyment in learning leads to higher achievement but a degree of achievement is

required to enjoy learning.”

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To foster student enjoyment and nurture their motivation, I devise my own approaching

focus following the 3 main elements affecting motivation: competence, autonomy, and

relatedness. The first important thing that I would like to offer my students in my future

classroom is real life connections. According to Bomar, M. (2009), there is a relationship

between student motivation/ achievement and real-world activitities. They have impacts on

learning outcomes when students are able to explore and create meaningful connections between

mathematics and their everyday lives (Diez-Palomar et al., 2006).

Discussion and collaborative work are also significant to create a culture of participation

and affective learning. When students were assigned guided group work to share their ideas of

the homework, they were able to solve the problems and showed in-depth understandings of the

learned concepts (Jaafar, 2015). Mathematical arguments and whole class discussion help both

educators and learners establish a culture of participation and engagement that furthers

mathematics learning (Bennet, 2014).

Least but not last is the implementation of technology in the classroom. Several studies

show that using technology as an intervention tool in mathematics influences student outcomes,

motivation to learn, and attitude about learning.