Student preferences for motivation type after successful completion of a mathematics task

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the motivation type preferences of students in kindergartens and second, fourth, sixth, and eighth grades and the underlying reasons thereof after successfully completing a mathematics task. The students in the study solved an easy mathematics question. After they solved the problem, they were presented with three pictures to choose from. These consisted of their teachers holding an activity as if presenting it to the class (social reward), a slightly harder question, and a tangible reward (a lollipop, a soccer ball, or a diary). One thousand one hundred and eighty-four students participated in the study. The multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed that the older students and the students who were more successful in mathematics tended to prefer the challenges significantly more than the tangible and social rewards. Mathematical achievement was the strongest predictor of the motivation type preferences. The qualitative data on the reasons for the preferences provided in-depth data to understand the students preferences for motivation types. Accordingly, the implications and the application that would facilitate teachers endeavours to motivate their students were discussed.

Keywords:

• Tangible rewards
• social rewards
• mastery experiences
• kindergarten
• elementary
• middle school

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.