What contributes to positive feelings towards mathematics? Examining mathematics autobiographies

Abstract

In this paper, we present how the participants in our study (post-secondary students) described what contributed to fostering their positive feelings towards mathematics. Drawing from mathematics autobiographies completed by the participants, we present some of the contexts wherein participants described positive feelings toward mathematics. We discuss a) encounters with teacher dispositions and pedagogical practices, b) experiencing the joy of engaging in mathematics, and c) external validation from teachers and parents, and consider whether each of these contexts sustained participants’ positive feelings towards mathematics.