Students’ Motivation to Learn Mathematics in the Robotics Environment

Abstract

Abstract The robotics context is suggested as a context that supports the learning of the sciences including mathematics. The present study investigates how the robotics context affects students’ motivation for learning mathematics. Two groups of seventh-grade students participated in the present research: a robotics class (32 students) and a regular class (33 students). Data were collected using two methods: questionnaires and interviews. Data from the questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS 23.00, while data from the interviews were analyzed using the constant comparison method. The qualitative results showed that the students in the robotics class described their experience with robotics-based learning of the rectangle topic in terms of interest, mastery, and self-efficacy, where they did that far more than students in the regular class. The quantitative results indicated that the seventh-grade students’ motivation to learn mathematics in the robotics class differed significantly, in favor of the robotics class, in three constructs: interest, mastery, and self-efficacy. Moreover, it did not differ significantly in two constructs: performance and failure.