Affective determinants of mathematical problem posing: the case of Chinese Miao students

Students' affective characteristics have been confirmed to shape their mathematics learning outcomes, including problem-solving performance and mathematics achievement. However, it remains unclear whether affect influences student mathematical problem posing - a process closely related to mathe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEducational studies in mathematics Vol. 105; no. 3; pp. 367 - 387
Main Authors Guo, Meng, Leung, Frederick K. S., Hu, Xiang
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dordrecht Springer 01.11.2020
Springer Netherlands
Subjects
Accuracy
Analysis
Critical thinking
Difficulty Level
Education
Expectation
Foreign Countries
Mathematical logic
Mathematics
Mathematics Education
Mathematics Skills
Minority Group Students
Minority students
Problem Solving
Psychological aspects
Psychological Patterns
Self Concept
Study and teaching
Symbolic and mathematical logic
Test Anxiety
China
Problem posing
Expectancy-value theory
Anxiety
Motivation
Minority students
Affect
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Summary:Students' affective characteristics have been confirmed to shape their mathematics learning outcomes, including problem-solving performance and mathematics achievement. However, it remains unclear whether affect influences student mathematical problem posing - a process closely related to mathematical problem solving. Drawn from the expectancy-value theory (EVT), this study examined the relationship between students' affective factors (self-concept, intrinsic value, and test anxiety) and their mathematical problem posing performance (complexity, quantity, and accuracy). Structural equation models were employed to analyze the data of 302 Chinese Miao students. The results showed that self-concept had a positive association with the complexity and accuracy of the problems posed. Intrinsic value was positively related to the complexity and quantity of the problems posed. Conversely, test anxiety negatively predicted the complexity of the problems. Our findings provide quantitative evidence of the significant influence of students' affective characteristics on their problem posing performance and offer a better understanding of the problem-posing ability of Chinese minority students. Moreover, this study validates an instrument measuring student affect in mathematical problem posing based on EVT.
ISSN:0013-1954
1573-0816
DOI:10.1007/s10649-020-09972-1