This book records the state of the art in research on mathematics-related affect. It discusses the concepts and theories of mathematics-related affect along the lines of three dimensions. The first dimension identifies three broad categories of affect: motivation, emotions, and beliefs. The book contains one chapter on motivation, including discussions on how emotions and beliefs relate to motivation. There are two chapters that focus on beliefs and a chapter on attitude which cross-cuts through all these categories. The second dimension covers a rapidly fluctuating state to a more stable trait. All chapters in the book focus on trait-type affect and the chapter on motivation discusses both these dimensions. The third dimension regards the three main levels of theorizing: physiological (embodied), psychological (individual) and social. All chapters reflect that mathematics-related affect has mainly been studied using psychological theories.

Why do smart people disengage from mathematical pursuits…and how can we reverse the trend? This book is designed to be the go-to source for information on mathematical motivation. It presents the full body of research on motivation in a useful, interesting and provocative matter.

This open access book, inspired by the ICME 13 topic study group “Affect, beliefs and identity in mathematics education”, presents the latest trends in research in the area. Following an introduction and a survey chapter providing a concise overview of the state-of-art in the field of mathematics-related affect, the book is divided into three main sections: motivation and values, engagement, and identity in mathematics education. Each section comprises several independent chapters based on original research, as well as a reflective commentary by an expert in the area. Collectively, the chapters present a rich methodological spectrum, from narrative analysis to structural equation modelling. In the final chapter, the editors look ahead to future directions in the area of mathematics-education-related affect. It is a timely resource for all those interested in the interaction between affect and mathematics education.

Effective Techniques to Motivate Mathematics Instruction offers pre-and in-service teachers best practices and techniques that can be used to motivate students in the first few minutes of any lesson in mathematics. Veteran teacher educators Posamentier and Krulik show how a bit of creativity and planning up front pays back by enabling a successful lesson on even the most challenging mathematics topic. Organized around nine different motivational techniques, each chapter includes a variety of illustrative examples of how the technique may be applied. Designed to complement any methods textbook, this practical, accessible guide helps future math teachers ease the transition from successful student to successful teacher by developing the tools needed to create motivational introductions in their classes.

Math teachers will find the classroom-tested lessons and strategies in this book to be accessible and easily implemented in the classroom The Teacher’s Toolbox series is an innovative, research-based resource providing teachers with instructional strategies for students of all levels and abilities. Each book in the collection focuses on a specific content area. Clear, concise guidance enables teachers to quickly integrate low-prep, high-value lessons and strategies in their middle school and high school classrooms. Every strategy follows a practical, how-to format established by the series editors. The Math Teacher's Toolbox contains hundreds of student-friendly classroom lessons and teaching strategies. Clear and concise chapters, fully aligned to Common Core math standards, cover the underlying research, required technology, practical classroom use, and modification of each high-value lesson and strategy. This book employs a hands-on approach to help educators quickly learn and apply proven methods and techniques in their mathematics courses. Topics range from the planning of units, lessons, tests, and homework to conducting formative assessments, differentiating instruction, motivating students, dealing with “math anxiety,” and culturally responsive teaching. Easy-to-read content shows how and why math should be taught as a language and how to make connections across mathematical units. Designed to reduce instructor preparation time and increase student engagement and comprehension, this book: Explains the usefulness, application, and potential drawbacks of each instructional strategy Provides fresh activities for all classrooms Helps math teachers work with ELLs, advanced students, and students with learning differences Offers real-world guidance for working with parents, guardians, and co-teachers The Math Teacher's Toolbox: Hundreds of Practical ideas to Support Your Students is an invaluable source of real-world lessons, strategies, and techniques for general education teachers and math specialists, as well as resource specialists/special education teachers, elementary and secondary educators, and teacher educators.

Grothendieck’s beautiful theory of schemes permeates modern algebraic geometry and underlies its applications to number theory, physics, and applied mathematics. This simple account of that theory emphasizes and explains the universal geometric concepts behind the definitions. In the book, concepts are illustrated with fundamental examples, and explicit calculations show how the constructions of scheme theory are carried out in practice.

Interest in Mathematics and Science Learning, edited by K. Ann Renninger, Martin Nieswandt, and Suzanne Hidi, is the first volume to assemble findings on the role of interest in mathematics and science learning. As the contributors illuminate across the volume's 22 chapters, interest provides a critical bridge between cognition and affect in learning and development. This volume will be useful to educators, researchers, and policy makers, especially those whose focus is mathematics, science, and technology education.

The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty. It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware. But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.

An overview of the different issues in motivation in mathematics. Chapters are included that present both theory and research on the influence of gender, culture, the classroom environment, and curriculum on children's mathematical performance and evaluation.

This open access book presents a person-centered exploration of student profiles, using variables related to motivation to do school mathematics derived from the IEA’s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) data. Statistical cluster analysis is used to identify groups of students with similar motivational profiles, across grades and over time, for multiple participating countries. While motivational variables systematically relate to school outcomes, linear relationships can obscure the diverse makeup of student subgroups, each with varying combinations of motivation, emotions, and attitudes. In this book, a person-centered analysis of distinct and meaningful motivational profiles and their differences on sociodemographic variables and mathematics performance broadens understanding about the role that motivation characteristics play in learning and achievement in mathematics. Exploiting the richness of IEA’s TIMSS data from many countries, extracted clusters reveal consistent, as well as certain nuanced patterns that are systematically linked to sociodemographic and achievement measures. Student clusters with inconsistent motivational profiles were found in all countries; mathematics self-confidence then emerged as the variable more closely associated with average achievement. The findings demonstrate that teachers, researchers, and policymakers need to take into account differential student profiles, prioritizing techniques that target skill and competence in mathematics, in educational efforts to develop student motivation.