Abstract
Student engagement is a significant issue in mathematics classrooms. It plays a major role in students’ enjoyment, interest and future participation in mathematics study. Interviews with 37 high and low achieving Year 7 students from ten high schools explored perceptions of their engagement and achievement levels in mathematics. Results indicate that highly engaged students were more ‘alike’ in terms of their attitudes towards mathematics, strategies for learning the subject, interest and behaviour regardless of differences in their achievement levels. Conversely, the profiles of high and low achieving students disengaging from mathematics were less alike. These findings shed light on student engagement in mathematics because they disentangle characteristics of engagement from those attributed to achievement.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 39th Psychology of Mathematics Education conference |
| Editors | Kim Beswick, Tracey Muir, Jill Wells |
| Place of Publication | Hobart; Australia |
| Publisher | Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME) |
| Pages | 185-192 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2015 |