AN INTERVENTION FOR PROMOTING STUDENT IDENTITY EXPLORATION, MOTIVATION, AND ACHIEVEMENT IN HIGH SCHOOL MATHEMATICS CLASSROOMS

Abstract

Many mathematics students experience dissonance between their sense of who they are and their perception of who they are expected to be in mathematics classrooms. Such students lack a sense of belonging while in mathematics class, believe that learning mathematics requires a natural ability they do not possess, experience classroom mathematical practices as being monotonous and devoid of meaning, or view mathematics as irrelevant to their present and future lives outside of the mathematics classroom. Together, these perceptions form students’ views of themselves in relation to the study of mathematics—their mathematics identities. However, whereas students’ mathematics identities are known to impact their academic motivation and achievement, the mathematics education literature lacks insight into how to promote positive mathematics identities in students. Flum and Kaplan (2006) identified the Eriksonian concept of exploration—the seeking out and processing of self-relevant information—as a key process in adaptive identity formation and one that may be harnessed as a motivational force in academic settings. The current study investigates the effects of a school-based program that is being implemented with the goal of promoting Algebra 2 students’ motivation and achievement by facilitating mathematics identity exploration. The data are based on pedagogical materials and student artifacts administered by three teachers as part of a classroom-based program that included reflective writing assignments that applied principles for promoting identity exploration around the curriculum. The research involves analyses of the data collected during this project undertaken in Algebra 2 classrooms in a suburban high school throughout one semester. Students were randomly assigned to either participate in the innovative pedagogical program or to one of two control groups. I found the mathematics identity exploration program to promote hints of exploration for some students but not others. Additionally, students who perceived the course as triggering mathematics identity exploration, whether assigned to the exploration program or to a control group, were found to have more adaptive motivational profiles at the end of the semester. The findings point to the benefits of identity exploration within the mathematics classroom to students’ mathematics identities and motivation in mathematics, and they provide directions for further research and the design of effective interventions that promote students’ identity exploration around the mathematics curriculum across student groups and contexts.