Effects of a Motivational Intervention on Learning New Topics in Mathematics

The aim of the study was to examine the effects of a motivational intervention based on context personalisation, drawing on from Expectancy-value theory and the Model of interest development. The study aimed to explore whether there would be a difference in motivational beliefs and knowledge between students who participated in the motivational intervention (the experimental group) and students taught in the usual way (the control group) when learning new mathematical content. A total of 316 second grade high school students participated in the study that was conducted at four time points assessing: prior knowledge and general motivation for learning mathematics; specific motivation after the first lesson of a new unit; specific motivation and knowledge after partial completion of the unit; and again, specific motivation and knowledge after completion of the entire unit. The students in the experimental group show higher triggered situational interest and perceived utility, although there were no differences at later time points. There were no significant differences in self-efficacy or test scores. In conclusion, while introducing context personalisation into instruction can increase student motivation, these effects appear to be modest and transient.