Abstract
Statement of Problem
This study was conducted to identify which teaching strategies work the best to motivate high school students in a mathematics classroom. This study addressed the following questions, "To what extent does the delivery of math curriculum help to motivate students to do their best in class? Which teaching strategies help students the most to comprehend math concepts and motivate students to succeed? What are the effects of reducing math anxiety on a student's motivational level and does that improve student learning." Many mathematics students have a motivation problem that has the potential to hurt their high school careers, plans for college, and careers choices later on in life. The purpose of this study was to create a mathematics intervention class focusing on motivating high school students.
Sources of Data
The data utilized for this study resulted from the student responses to a presurvey and post-survey taken in three high school level Algebra 1 a and Algebra 1 b classes. The survey was designed to measure if different strategies, utilized throughout the five week study, improved student motivation levels. During the intervention class specific strategies were used to create improved levels of motivation. Theses strategies included using technology in the classroom, reducing math anxiety, and teaching math vocabulary. Open-ended questions were included.in the post-survey to determine which teaching strategies were able to help student motivation and why they were effective.
Conclusions Reached
Results of this study suggest that using different teaching strategies can improve student motivation levels in a high school mathematics setting. Student's motivation was specifically increased when both the teacher and student utilized technology as part of the learning process. Findings also suggest that teacher motivation, reducing math anxiety, and teaching vocabulary can have a positive affect on a student's· motivation level.