Supporting interest of middle school students in mathematics through context personalization and example choice

An experimental study examined the effect of context personalization and example choice on situational interest in mathematics of adolescent students. Middle school students (N = 736) learned about probability calculus and were assigned to one of four instructional conditions. Individual interest and perceived competence in mathematics was examined as moderator on three measures of situational interest: triggered situational interest, maintained situational interest, and perceived value. Context personalization promoted triggered and maintained situational interest, and perception of value among students with low individual interest and perceived competence in mathematics. Similar results were observed for example choice, with the exception of perceived value. Although context personalization and example choice promoted effort for students with low individual interest, we observed no effect on performance. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.     

Interesting,but Less Interested: Gender Differences and Similarities in Mathematics Interest

The purpose of the present study was to examine gender differences in mathematics interest. In a sample of middle school students (N?=?366), we examined mathematics interest as a trait (i.e., individual interest) and as a current state (i.e., situational interest) during a learning activity in mathematics. Assessment of perceived competence, performance, and effort during learning was also included. Results revealed a significant difference between boys and girls in their ratings of individual interest, but not in the current experience of situational interest. Furthermore, boys and girls did not differ in performance during learning, but girls invested significantly more effort than boys. Results and their implications are discussed in relation to interest development, gender differences, and subjective beliefs.     

Why face a challenge?: The reason behind intrinsically motivated students' spontaneous choice of challenging tasks

In a task choice situation, why do some students spontaneously choose challenging tasks while others do not? In the study, 114 undergraduate students were first asked of their perceived competence and interest in solving number puzzles at both individual and situational levels, and then asked to choose one puzzle from four difficulty levels. They received no performance feedback throughout the session. Regression analyses indicated that the students with higher individual interest levels chose more challenging puzzles, while the students with higher levels of perceived competence and low levels of individual interest did not necessarily choose difficult puzzles. The students who chose more challenging puzzles attributed their choices to interest rather than perceived competence. The study suggests a limitation of relying on students' self-reported confidence in their ability and the importance of conceptualizing individual interest as the reason behind the choice of challenging tasks in a low-pressure task choice environment.     

A multi-user virtual environment to support students' self-efficacy and interest in science: A latent growth model analysis

Using latent growth models, we explored: (a) The effect of middle school students' (n = 189) pre-intervention science self-efficacy and science interest on their initial interest in an Ecosystems Multi-User Virtual Environment (EcoMUVE) and the rate of change in their interest in EcoMUVE; and (b) the mediating effect of students' initial interest in EcoMUVE and rate of change in interest on students' post-intervention science self-efficacy and interest in science. Results showed that: (1) students' pre-intervention self-efficacy for science had an effect both on students' triggered situational interest for EcoMUVE and on students' maintained situational interest for EcoMUVE; (2) both triggering and maintaining situational interest in EcoMUVE were important in developing students' science self-efficacy. In fact, maintained situational interest was the stronger predictor; and (3) maintained situational interest for EcoMUVE translated into individual interest for the science content. Results support and extend social cognitive theory as well as models of interest development.     

Self-regulation of mathematics homework behavior: An empirical investigation

The authors examined self-regulation of mathematics homework behavior (i.e., mathematics homework management). The participants consisted of 796 eighth-grade students (46 classes) in China. Multilevel results showed that mathematics homework management was positively associated with value belief at the class and individual level. At the individual level, students' management in mathematics homework was positively related to affective attitude, expectancy belief, learning-oriented reasons, homework interest, parent education, teacher feedback, adult-oriented reasons, and value belief. Meanwhile, students' management in mathematics homework was negatively related to time spent on television. Our findings were discussed in the context of related theoretical frameworks (e.g., self-regulation and expectancy value) as well as previous findings pertaining to homework.     

Written feedback in mathematics: Mediated by students' perception,moderated by goal orientation

Although feedback is a popular topic in educational research, the question of how and on what conditions feedback in mathematics affects learning seldom has been addressed. In this study, we investigated: (1) whether process-oriented feedback in mathematics leads to greater interest and higher achievement development compared to social-comparative feedback; (2) whether students' perception of feedback with regard to usefulness and competence support mediates these effects; and (3) whether the impact of feedback is moderated by students' mastery approach goal orientation. To answer these research questions, 146 ninth-grade intermediate school students in Germany were randomly assigned to both feedback conditions. Results of path analyses revealed (1) no significant total feedback effects on interest and achievement development, but (2) indirect effects on the development of interest via perceived competence support and usefulness, and on achievement development via perceived usefulness, as well as (3) a moderation effect of mastery approach goal orientation on the impact of feedback on perceived usefulness.     

Enjoyment of Chinese and mathematics and school performance in Chinese children and adolescents

This 2-year longitudinal study examined relations between enjoyment of learning in Chinese and mathematics, two major subjects in Chinese schools, and indexes of school performance. The participants included 1041 students (501 boys) initially in third, fifth, and seventh grades (mean age = 10.49 years) in China. Data on enjoyment of Chinese and mathematics were collected from students' self-reports and data on school performance were collected from multiple sources in 2017 and 2019. The results showed that enjoyment of mathematics positively predicted later academic achievement, self-perceptions of academic competence, teacher-rated school competence, and peer-assessed leadership-social competence. Enjoyment of Chinese negatively predicted later mathematics achievement and self-perceptions of academic competence and nonsignificantly predicted other school performance variables. The results were discussed in Chinese context.     

Developing and testing a model of direct and indirect relationships between individual differences,processing, and multiple-text comprehension

The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesized model that specified direct and indirect linkages between the individual difference variables of epistemic beliefs, need for cognition, individual interest, and prior knowledge, the processing variables of effort, deeper-level strategies, and situational interest, and multiple-text comprehension. Using a path analysis approach with a sample of 279 Norwegian upper secondary school students, results indicated that students' effort and deeper-level strategies predicted their multiple-text comprehension, with the individual difference variables indirectly affecting multiple-text comprehension through their influence on effortful, adaptive multiple-text processing. In addition, students' prior knowledge about the topic of the texts seemed to affect their multiple-text comprehension directly as well as indirectly. Both theoretical and educational implications of the results are discussed.     

Perceived autonomy support and autonomous motivation toward mathematics activities in educational and out-of-school contexts is related to mathematics homework behavior and attainment

We adopted a trans-contextual model of motivation to examine the processes by which school students' perceived autonomy support (defined as students' perceptions that their teachers' support their autonomous or self-determined motivation) and autonomous forms of motivation (defined as motivation to act out of a sense of choice, ownership, and personal agency) toward mathematics activities in an educational context predict autonomous motivation and intentions toward mathematics homework, and actual mathematics homework behavior and attainment, as measured by homework grades, in an out-of-school context. A three-wave prospective study design was adopted. High-school students (N = 216) completed self-report measures of perceived autonomy support and autonomous forms of motivation toward mathematics activities in school in the first wave of data collection. One-week later, participants completed measures of autonomous forms of motivation, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions with respect to mathematics homework outside school. Students' self-reported homework behavior and homework grades from students' class teachers were collected 5-weeks later. A structural equation model supported model hypotheses. Perceived autonomy support and autonomous forms of motivation toward mathematics activities in school were related to autonomous forms of motivation toward mathematics homework outside of school. Autonomous forms of motivation toward mathematics homework predicted intentions to do mathematics homework mediated by attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. Intentions predicted self-reported mathematics homework behavior and mathematics homework grades. Perceived autonomy support and autonomous forms of motivation toward mathematics in school had statistically significant indirect effects on mathematics homework intentions mediated by the motivational sequence of the model. Results provide preliminary support for the model and evidence that autonomous motivation toward mathematics activities in the classroom is linked with autonomous motivation, intention, behavior and actual attainment in mathematics homework outside of school.     

Factors associated with middle and secondary students' perceived science competence

The aim of the present study was to gain a better understanding of students' perceived science competence by examining potentially related beliefs and perceptions in a diverse sample of middle and secondary students (N = 1289). Results of hierarchical regression analysis showed that students' perceived science competence was related to: (a) students' age, gender, and ethnicity; (b) students' mastery and performance–approach goals; (c) students' self‐perceptions of their ability to generate creative ideas (i.e., creative self‐efficacy); and (d) students' perceptions of teacher support and press (i.e., challenging academic demands). Of all these factors, creative self‐efficacy was found to have the strongest positive relationship with students' perceived science competence. Implications for subsequent research are discussed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 800–814, 2007     

A systematic approach to embedding academic numeracy at university

This paper argues that academic numeracy is an important, but undervalued and under-researched, area in tertiary education. Academic numeracy is first defined in terms of students' competence, confidence and critical awareness of their own mathematical knowledge and the mathematics needed in context. The development of academic numeracy is then discussed in terms of obuchenie (teaching/learning) and the metaknowledge around the mathematics in context needed by key staff. The paper presents a systematic approach to develop academic numeracy at the university, program, course and individual student and teacher level. Finally, it provides examples of how to embed academic numeracy. This paper provides a framework for future studies in this under-researched area.     

Interest-enhancing approaches to mathematics curriculum design: Illustrations and personalization

Two common interest-enhancement approaches in mathematics curriculum design are illustrations and personalization of problems to students’ interests. The objective of these experiments is to test a variety of illustrations and personalization approaches. In the illustrations experiment, students (n?=?265) were randomly assigned to lessons with story problems containing decorative illustrations, contextual illustrations, diagrammatic illustrations, misleading illustrations, or no illustrations (only text [control condition]). Students’ problem-solving performance and attitudes were not affected by illustration condition, but learning was better in the control compared with contextual illustrations. In the personalization experiment, students (n?=?223) were randomly assigned to story problems that were either personalized based on: a survey of their interests, their choice of interest topics, a randomly assigned interest topic, or the original nonpersonalized story problem (control). The findings indicated there were benefits for choice personalization both for performance in the problem set as well as on a later learning assessment.     

The Developmental Dynamics between Interest,Self-concept of Ability,and Academic Performance

Only a few studies have examined the direction of associations between academic achievement, interest, and self-concept of ability simultaneously by using longitudinal data over several school years. To examine the cross-lagged relationships between students' interest, self-concept of ability, and performance in mathematics and reading, longitudinal data from Grade 1 to Grade 7 of comprehensive school was gathered from 216 students. The results showed that, in both reading and math, performance predicted students' subsequent self-concept of ability. Some evidence was also found that math performance predicts subsequent interest in mathematics, and that self-concept of math ability mediates the impact of math performance on interest. No evidence was found for the assumption that self-concept of ability or interest would predict subsequent academic performance.     

Investigating Students' Perceived Discipline Relevance Subsequent to Playing Educational Computer Games: A Personal Interest and Self-Determination Theory Approach

The purpose of this study is to explain students' perceived relevance of playing an educational game as a means for development of discipline competence. Based on self-determination theory and the concept of personal interest, we propose that: Satisfying students' basic needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness when playing educational games is critical for arousal of intrinsic motivation in learning-through-gaming; Students' interest in the core subject and their intrinsic motivation in learning-through-gaming are important for their perceptions of how relevant they believe the gaming session is for the discipline they are studying. The results from an empirical study indicate that arousal of intrinsic motivation in the ongoing gaming session is more important than pre-gaming interest in the core subject for participants' post-gaming perception of how relevant such gaming is as a means for developing their discipline competence. The results also indicate that satisfying basic needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness is critical for arousal of intrinsic gaming motivation. Our findings have implications for the choice of pedagogical means when utilizing educational games as a complementary alternative to traditional learning methods. To that end, we offer directions for future research.     

Motivational Profile and Academic Achievement Among Students Enrolled in Different Schooling Tracks

From the contextual perspective, researchers argue that the relevance and weight of motivational variables of students' functioning vary depending on different dimensions related to individual, cultural or situational characteristics. The first objective of this study examined this contention by comparing self-perceptions of competence, learning goals and judgments of usefulness of school subjects as motivational determinants of high school students' commitment and achievement according to their assignment to their learning abilities. The second objective was to compare how these variables related to academic commitment and achievement according to the type of student and two school subjects. Two-hundred-and-twenty-six high school students from a same school participated sixty-one were learning disabled students, 60 were high achievers and 105 were average students. Findings suggest that the relevance of the motivational variables did not vary much across either the type of student or the school subjects. They also support Bandura's view about the primary role of self-perceptions of competence in students' academic commitment and achievement.     

Measuring Mathematical Competences of Engineering Students at the Beginning of Their Studies

This article reports about our efforts to determine engineering students' competence in mathematics. Our research is embedded in a larger project, KoM@ING–Modeling and developing competence: Integrated IRT based and qualitative studies with a focus on mathematics and its usage in engineering studies, within the program Modeling and Measuring Competencies in Higher Education (KoKoHS). KoKoHS provides the umbrella organization of several research projects addressing the modeling and measuring of competences at the college level. KoM@ING aims to model the role of engineering students' mathematical competences for their studies from both a quantitative and a qualitative perspective.

Here, we report the development of a large-scale instrument assessing engineering freshmen's competence in mathematics by applying Rasch analysis to determine measures for item difficulties and student abilities. Several analyses were performed to provide insights into the measures' reliability and validity. In particular, to examine cognitive validity, we scrutinized students' think-aloud protocols when solving the items to investigate their problem solving abilities as a proxy for item difficulty. Overall, we found first evidence that our instrument is suitable to assess engineering freshmen's competence in mathematics. This instrument may be helpful to conduct further research and to inform those concerned with college organization and policy.     

Exploring the Development of College Students' Situational Interest in Learning Science

This quasi-experimental study explores how student cumulative situational interest, short-term preference generated by particular conditions such as novel experiences can be developed into better individual interest, an enduring predisposition to engage in certain activity such as chemistry lessons. A continuous intervention of integrating novelty and aesthetic experience into teaching was used for the experimental group (n?=?64) while another class of 105 students studying another course of physical science without the intervention of novelty and aesthetics served as a comparison group. The analysis of covariance comparing the two group students' pre- and post-test perceptions of learning science revealed that the experimental group outperformed the comparison group in their perceptions of interest, enjoyment, and aesthetics. The weekly assessment of student situational interest indicated that the experimental group students' situational interests were well maintained by two leading learning activities: demonstrations and hands-on experiments with novelty and aesthetic experience. The above results provide empirical evidence to support the theory of interest development, which proposes that the development goes through a cumulative and progressive procedure.     

A sequence of learning processes in an intelligent tutoring system from topic-related appraisals to learning gains

Although intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs) are increasingly used, it is unclear which psychological processes precede students' learning gains. Using a pre- and posttest design, the present study examined a sequence of psychological processes informed by control value theory. We investigated (a) whether secondary school students' topic-related cognitive appraisals (value and control) affected their task-related affective (enjoyment and boredom) and cognitive (engagement and performance) outcomes while using the ITS and (b) whether task-related outcomes affected learning. Path analyses showed that students’ topic-related interest, but not perceived utility, personal importance or self-efficacy, was associated with task-related enjoyment. In turn, enjoyment showed reciprocal effects on and of engagement and ongoing task performance, which predicted final performance and, ultimately, learning gains. The influence of boredom, in contrast, was minimal along this sequence. More generally, the findings highlight the difficulty of establishing a clear pattern of sequential causation derived from control value theory for the current ITS context, with evidence demonstrating the systematic influence of confounders accounting for the predicted relations among components. Despite these limitations, we identified key psychological processes involving the contribution of affective and cognitive processes to learning in the ITS context.     

Perceived competence and autonomy as moderators of the effects of achievement goal orientations

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the roles of two moderators – perceived competence and perceived autonomy – in the relationships of achievement goal orientations with a broad range of learning‐related variables, including interest, effort, learning strategy use and academic achievement. Perceived competence and autonomy played roles as moderators by strengthening the positive effects of a mastery goal pursuit on outcome measures of adaptive use of learning strategies and effort, respectively. However, no moderating role of either perceived competence or perceived autonomy was found for the effect of a performance‐approach and performance‐avoidance goal pursuit. In addition, perceived competence played a significant role in determining the level of academic achievement in the context of multiple‐goal pursuit. For students with high perceived competence, the adoption of high performance‐approach goals resulted in a higher level of achievement regardless of the levels of mastery goals. In contrast, students with low perceived competence showed the highest achievement when high performance‐approach goals are paired with low mastery goals.     

A study of user's acceptance on situational mashups in situational language teaching

Situational awareness and mashups are two key factors influencing the success of situational language teaching. However, traditional situational language teaching cannot smoothly conduct relevant learning activities in changing learning context. This study developed a situational mashups system for detecting users' context and proposed a research model for evaluating users' acceptance on the situational mashups in situational language teaching. The proposed model consisted of users' individual experiences, situational learning theory and technology acceptance theory. The experimental results showed that users' experiences of using computer, Internet, mashups system and mashups‐based learning, as well as users' perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of situational mashups are all key factors affecting users' acceptance of situational mashups in situational language teaching.