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Mathematics Education Research Journal

, Volume 29, Issue 2, pp 201–217 | Cite as

Instructional characteristics in mathematics classrooms: relationships to achievement goal orientation and student engagement

  • Rebecca Lazarides
  • Charlott Rubach
Original Article
First Online:

Abstract

This longitudinal study examined relationships between student-perceived teaching for meaning, support for autonomy, and competence in mathematic classrooms (Time 1), and students’ achievement goal orientations and engagement in mathematics 6 months later (Time 2). We tested whether student-perceived instructional characteristics at Time 1 indirectly related to student engagement at Time 2, via their achievement goal orientations (Time 2), and, whether student gender moderated these relationships. Participants were ninth and tenth graders (55.2% girls) from 46 classrooms in ten secondary schools in Berlin, Germany. Only data from students who participated at both timepoints were included (N = 746 out of total at Time 1 1118; dropout 33.27%). Longitudinal structural equation modeling showed that student-perceived teaching for meaning and support for competence indirectly predicted intrinsic motivation and effort, via students’ mastery goal orientation. These paths were equivalent for girls and boys. The findings are significant for mathematics education, in identifying motivational processes that partly explain the relationships between student-perceived teaching for meaning and competence support and intrinsic motivation and effort in mathematics.

Keywords

Mathematics classrooms Instruction Intrinsic motivation Achievement goal orientation Effort Gender 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge the helpful and detailed comments on our manuscript, from Professor Helen Watt, Monash University.

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Copyright information

© Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Inc. 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of EducationUniversity of PotsdamPotsdam OT GolmGermany

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