Motivation to Succeed In First-Year University Mathematics: Quantitative and Qualitative Analyses

The rationale for this research is based upon the overriding importance of mathematics achievement for the individual in particular, and for society in general. Mathematics achievement acts as a filter for subsequent career goals and ambitions; acts as a gateway into degree programs in mathematics, science and other lucrative career fields; promotes college retention and student engagement and completion of degree programs. Given this importance of mathematics, however, not all students are motivated in the same way and at the same level to succeed in mathematics. Remediating these students has become a market unto itself, with colleges and universities allover the world spending huge sums of money every year to bring students up to the level that would enable them succeed in college mathematics. Understanding students' motivation and the factors that help them develop their mathematical self-concepts is important not only in helping more students succeed in mathematics but also in helping to save the huge sums of money that are spent every year on mathematics remedial programs.;A sample of 407 participants were included in the main study and consisted of 233 male and 174 female students ranging between the ages of 18 and 45 years. All participants were enrolled in various first-year college mathematics courses at three postsecondary institutions in the province of Alberta, Canada. The survey consisted of 40 items compiled from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), Intrinsic Motivation Instruments (IMI), Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Attitudes toward Mathematics Inventory (ATMI) and supplemented with items designed by the researcher. The questionnaire items included 16 items measuring students' mathematical self-concept and 24 items measuring intrinsic (23) and extrinsic (1) motivation. All the items used a 5-point Likert-type format. The survey questionnaires were administered to the participants at their institutions. Out of the sample of 522 students, 407 actually responded and participated giving a survey response rate of 78 percent. In addition, 15 of the participants were selected for an in-depth telephone interview which lasted on the average about 45 minutes per participant.;Confirmatory factor analysis supported the existence of two self-concept components (affective mathematical self-concept and cognitive mathematical self-concept) and four motivational subscales (intrinsic motivation: relevance/significance of math; perception of math; interest/enjoyment of math; & extrinsic motivation: expectation of future income). The correlations among the motivation, self-concept, and demographic variables revealed theoretically consistent interrelationships. Multiple regression analyses indicated that the two self-concept components, demographic variables, and extrinsic motivational factor accounted for significant amounts of the variance in students' motivation to succeed in first-year college mathematics. These insights into the relationships between students' motivation to succeed in first-year college mathematics and mathematical self-concept and demographic factors were illuminated, enhanced and complemented by the results from the analyses of the qualitative data from the telephone interviews. The results are discussed in relation to current theory and their practical implications for teaching and learning mathematics.;The purpose of this study was, therefore, about whether or not there is a significant relationship between students' mathematical self-concept and students' motivation to succeed in first-year college mathematics. In other words, are students' motivations to succeed in first-year college mathematics related to the self-perceptions students have about themselves in relation to learning and succeeding in first-year college mathematics? In addition, demographic factors were included to determine their predictive contribution to the explanation of students' motivation to succeed in first-year college mathematics. This study is just but one of the several attempts to increase understanding of students' motivation to succeed in first-year college mathematics and the factors that predict this motivation.