High school maths motivation in Australia: its nature and the social context
Date
2010
Authors
Plenty, Stephanie
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Abstract
In Australia, participation in maths-related training and careers
is declining and girls are under-represented amongst those who do
pursue an interest in maths. Students in rural high schools are
also more likely to have teachers without specialist training in
maths. The purpose of this thesis was to comprehensively examine
the nature, development and social context of maths motivation
for Australian rural high school students.
Students from three public high schools completed the Student
Motivation and Engagement Scale (Martin, 2007a) in the second
semester of the school year and again a year later in a
longitudinal cohort design. They also completed scales addressing
affiliation with their maths teacher, parents and peers, as well
as their maths attainment.
The results showed that maths motivation is complex and
multifaceted. A range of core motivational theories was needed to
explain the network of associations amongst the facets of
motivation. Ratings of adaptive maths motivation decreased across
grades 7 to 10, while disengagement increased. However, ratings
of maladaptive cognitions and self-handicapping remained steady.
Utility valuing showed the strongest effect with the decline of
ratings accelerating after Grade 8. Girls reported stronger
anxiety, uncertain control and failure avoidance than boys.
However, they also showed more mastery interest and study
planning. Furthermore, each adaptive facet of motivation and
maladaptive behaviour was significantly predicted by affiliation
with parents, maths teacher and peers. However, uncertain control
and failure avoidance only showed significant paths with peer
affiliation. Despite expectations, no sources of affiliation
negatively predicted maths anxiety.
These results hold important implications for theories and models
of academic motivation and socialisation. They demonstrate that
the core theories of motivation can be incorporated into a more
comprehensive model and that the quality of different social
relationships are relevant to specific facets of maths
motivation. This can contribute to a broader model of maths
motivation within a relevant social context. The findings also
have valuable practical implications for those wanting to support
the learning experience of maths students and Australian rural
high school maths students in particular. For example, they bring
to light that adaptive facets, particularly utility values, tend
to decline during high school and that girls may be more
vulnerable to anxiety-based cognitions than boys. These findings
can assist educators, counselors and parents to tailor effective
strategies for individuals that promote students’ adaptive
engagement and involvement in maths.
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Mathematics, student motivation, social support, affiliation, high school
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