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Bringing Students Back To Mathematics: Classroom Knowledge And Motivation, Giang-Nguyen T. Nguyen, Joel B. Goodin

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This paper reports part of a larger research study that investigated how teachers motivate students to learn mathematics at the college level. Findings from the study indicated that teachers have the power to influence and reinvigorate students who had given up learning mathematics. In the framework of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the researchers analyzed five students’ motivational levels based on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to see how each student was motivated by their teacher. Findings from the study could provide some directions for future research on students’ motivation to learn mathematics.