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Peer Motivation: Getting Through Math Together, Jessica Mean, Wes Maciejewski
Peer Motivation: Getting Through Math Together, Jessica Mean, Wes Maciejewski
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
Students have a complex relationship with mathematics. Some love it, but more often than not, the feelings are less favorable. These feelings can lead to decreased motivation which makes it difficult for students to engage with the subject as the semester progresses. Instructors also have difficulty addressing this waning motivation. In this paper, we claim peers are better able to connect with the students and this can be leveraged to better motivate students. We present an approach to having peers motivate their students. These peer interactions integrated with a mandatory mathematics course might improve students’ motivation.
Bringing Students Back To Mathematics: Classroom Knowledge And Motivation, Giang-Nguyen T. Nguyen, Joel B. Goodin
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.
Attitudes And Experiences In Liberal Arts Mathematics, Jennifer Clinkenbeard
Attitudes And Experiences In Liberal Arts Mathematics, Jennifer Clinkenbeard
Journal of Humanistic Mathematics
For many university students, the last formal experience in a mathematics classroom is a single semester “general education” mathematics class. Traditionally, students in this type of class often hold negative attitudes towards mathematics. Here I study a sample of students from this population (49 students at a large, urban, comprehensive public university enrolled in a “math for liberal arts majors” course) to research whether a positive experience in a freshman-level general education mathematics course correlates with a positive change in the students’ attitude towards mathematics in general. I also explore which specific aspects of such a course contribute most to …