Motivational actions of mathematics teachers: Students' perspective

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a research aimed at determining the motivational actions of teachers in the subject teaching of mathematics. The aim of the research was to determine the quality of teachers' motivational actions in teaching mathematics in the higher grades of elementary school. The research sample included 570 seventh-grade students. It was established that students evaluate the teachers' motivational actions in different ways. In addition, the results of the research revealed a statistically significant connection between students' evaluations of the teachers' motivational actions and the level of student achievement in mathematics. A higher degree of achievement was observed among the students who said that their mathematics teachers motivated them in different ways and developed their interest in learning mathematical content. On the other hand, a lower degree of achievement expressed in numerical grades was found among the students who stated that quality motivational models were not often represented in their mathematics classes.