What contributes to positive feelings towards mathematics? Examining mathematics autobiographies

Date
2016-11
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
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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.
Description
Keywords
Emotion, Mathematics Autobiographies
Citation
Takeuchi, M.A., Towers, J., & Martin, L. (2016). What contributes to positive feelings towards mathematics: Examining mathematics autobiographies. In M.B. Wood, E. E. Turner, M. Civil, & J.A. Eli (Eds.), Proceedings of the 38th annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 1119-1122). Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona.