Mixed Methods Latent Profile Analysis: Motivational Profiles and Emotional Experiences in an Informal Geometry Camp

• In Event: Addressing Mathematics Learning: Insights From Research on Math Anxiety, Engagement, Mindset, and Metacognitive Monitoring

Abstract

Experiences during the middle school years can greatly influence students’ confidence and motivation to pursue mathematics. Person-centered approaches have revealed students’ motivational profiles which represent variations in mathematics engagement. The present mixed-methods study contributes to this literature through identifying motivational profiles for historically marginalized students attending an informal geometry camp. A latent profile analysis was conducted to identify student motivational profiles, followed by a multimodal discourse analysis of students’ emotion graphs completed after each lesson. Data integration involved examining the emotion graph findings across profiles. Results showed variations in students’ emotional experiences across four motivation profiles. Implications include instructional considerations for supporting different motivational profiles and future research to further understand the variations in emotional experiences across mathematics motivational profiles.

Authors

• Bailey Joan Bontrager, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Christine Lee Bae, Virginia Commonwealth University

• V. Rani Satyam, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Marco Aldi, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Nicola Tarasca, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Allison H. Moore, Virginia Commonwealth University