Motivational Profiles in TIMSS Mathematics: Exploring Student Clusters across Countries and Time. IEA Research for Education. Volume 7
Author: Michaelides, Michalis P.
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Books
Subjects: Elementary Secondary Education,Foreign Countries,Achievement Tests,International Assessment,Mathematics Achievement,Mathematics Tests,Student Motivation,Profiles,Grade 4,Grade 8

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's (IEA) mission is to enhance knowledge about education systems worldwide, and to provide high-quality data that will support education reform and lead to better teaching and learning in schools. In pursuit of this aim, it conducts, and reports on, major studies of student achievement in literacy, mathematics, science, citizenship, and digital literacy. These studies, most notably Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS), and International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS), are well established and have set the benchmark for international comparative studies in education. The studies have generated vast datasets encompassing student achievement, disaggregated in a variety of ways, along with a wealth of contextual information which contains considerable explanatory power. The numerous reports that have emerged from them are a valuable contribution to the corpus of educational research. Valuable though these detailed reports are, IEA's goal of supporting education reform needs something more: deep understanding of education systems and the many factors that bear on student learning advances through in-depth analysis of the global datasets. IEA has long championed such analysis and facilitates scholars and policymakers in conducting secondary analysis of our datasets.The IEA Research for Education series represents a further effort by IEA to capitalize on our unique datasets, so as to provide powerful information for policymakers and researchers. Each report focuses on a specific topic and is produced by a dedicated team of leading scholars on the theme in question. This seventh volume in the series is concerned with student motivation for learning mathematics. Student achievement in school depends on many school- and home-based factors, but also on individual motivation. Research into the motivational correlates of learning is not new, and it is clear that there is a positive relationship between motivation and learning. However, the links are generally found to be weak, and are imperfectly understood. This study has taken the novel approach of focusing on students rather than motivation variables and, by identifying clusters of students with distinctive profiles in terms of these variables, sheds light on how motivation patterns relate differentially to achievement. Besides being a valuable addition to the literature on motivation and student learning, this report highlights the central importance of reinforcing students' competence in mathematics as a central construct toward building confidence. While it helps if students enjoy mathematics and appreciate its significance, in the absence of a well-founded confidence in mathematics, these factors have a weaker association with achievement. [For volume 6, see ED599000.]