Design and Development of Math Confidence Intervention: Insights from Reflective Practice

• In Event: From Idea to Impact: Candid Reflections on Building Interventions

Abstract

Objectives
The purpose of our interventions was to improve students’ math motivation and performance by either strengthening their growth mindsets and gender-fair beliefs or enhancing their parents’ growth mindsets, gender-fair beliefs, and expectations for their children’s success in math.

Theoretical Framework
Math confidence is an important target of motivation interventions (Rosenzweig & Wigfield, 2016) and a key factor in the gradual decline and gender disparities in math motivation (Else-Quest et al., 2010; Scherrer & Preckel, 2019). We implemented a series of multi-construct interventions aimed at enhancing math confidence and other outcomes among third- and fourth-graders, based on the existing literature on mindsets (e.g., Dweck & Yeager, 2019), stereotype threat (e.g., Steele, 1997), and parent-child socialization (e.g., Eccles & Wigfield, 2020).

Methods
Our student intervention (Authors, 2021) consisted of six bi-weekly 40-min sessions. With cluster random assignment, Korean 4th graders (N = 238) were assigned to either the intervention or the attention-matched wait-list control condition. Students in both conditions engaged in the same hands-on math activities such as Soma cubes, 3D mazes, and tangrams, with only the intervention students receiving growth-mindset and gender-fairness messages. We subsequently developed a parent intervention and implemented it with a different group of 3rd and 4th graders (N = 467) and their parents. The parent intervention comprised six letters sent home over 3 weeks, helping parents to communicate growth-mindset and gender-fairness messages to their children, along with their expectations for their children’s success in math (Authors, 2022). A replication study addressed limitations in the earlier parent intervention study (Authors, 2025).

Data Sources
Table 1 summarizes the study designs and data sources of Authors (2021, 2022, 2025).

Results
Our experience with three related interventions yielded several important takeaways:
1. All interventions demonstrated significant immediate effects on most belief and motivation outcomes.
2. Multi-construct interventions work, especially when there is a logical connection between the targeted constructs.
3. Although multi-construct interventions are effective, it is challenging to disentangle the individual effects on each construct.
4. Even when interventions are effective, they rarely lead to significant improvement in achievement.
5. Intervention effects appear to be stronger in low-SES schools and weaker in schools in affluent districts where parents are highly involved in their children’s education.
6. It is difficult to sustain long-term effects once the research team leaves the school setting, unless teachers integrate the intervention strategies into their daily instruction.
7. Effects of interventions are more pronounced among students who value the subject and among parents who maintain positive relationships with their children.
8. Unlike student mindsets, parental mindsets are more resistant to change.

Scholarly Significance
Our interventions showcase a theory-informed, multi-construct approach (Rosenzweig & Wigfield, 2016), involving both students and parents. Given the rarity of systematically evolved motivation interventions that target young children’s competence beliefs (Wigfield et al., 2021), the findings from our interventions offer valuable guidance for researchers and practitioners. For those interested in designing and implementing classroom motivation interventions, our work addresses key questions and considerations across three critical phases: design, implementation, and evaluation.

Authors

• Hyun Ji Lee, Hunter College, The City University of New York

• Sungwha Kim, Korea University - Brain and Motivation Research Institute

• Mimi Bong, Korea University