(868) TEACHING METHODS AND STUDENTS' MOTIVATION IN LEARNING MATH

摘要

Estonian students have shown high results in PISA tests over the years, but motivation and interest tolearn math is slightly lower than the mean in OECD countries [1]. Since teaching methods may playimportant role in the motivational indicators of learning, the current study aims to find how motivationand math skills are related with teaching methods and how these relations explain why higher resultsin math are not necessarily related to higher motivation. The sample included 450 children (242 boys)from Grades 7 and 8, and 25 teachers from 20 urban and rural schools from Estonia. Children's mathskills were tested in both years. Nonverbal reasoning, interest in math, internal and external motivationwere assessed in Grade 8. Teachers answered to open-ended questions about the most commonerrors that their students made in the math test conducted in Grade 7. They had to explain what couldbe done to prevent students from making these types of errors. According to the responses, theteachers were divided into two groups. First, teachers who answered only that students shouldpractice more with this kind of tasks. Second, teachers who additionally said that students should havediscussions about these topics and errors. Fourteen teachers with first answer types were categorizedas emphasizing teacher-centered teaching methods and eleven teachers with the second answertypes as emphasizing learner-centered teaching methods. The students were divided into two groupsaccording to their teachers teaching method. The results showed that overall the children in bothgroups had similar results in math skills and nonverbal reasoning, also motivation and interest in mathwere similar between the groups. As expected, nonverbal reasoning was related with math skills inboth groups. However, the groups differed in relations between math skills and motivational indicators.In the teacher-centered teaching method group children who had higher results in internal motivationhad also higher math skills; and children who had higher results in interest in math had higher mathskills. In contrast, relations between math skills, interest, and internal motivation were not significant inthe group of children who had been taught by teachers with learner-centered methods. The resultsindicate that students who have a teacher who emphasizes teacher-centered teaching methods mayhave to motivate themselves and be more interested in math to have good results, but students whohave a teacher with learner-centered teaching methods may show good math skills even if they arenot much interested and internally motivated in math learning.