Feeling Stuck: Critical Turning Points for Seventh Graders in Math

• In Event: How Do You Feel About STEM? Examining the Overlooked Role of Emotions for Career Aspirations

Abstract

In the United States, many American youth fail to become proficient in basic math (U.S. Department of Education, 2008) and students who are high performing often choose not to pursue STEM college majors (Wang, Eccles, & Kenny, 2013), the combination of which results in a shortage of students willing and able to pursue STEM careers (U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, 2012). For many, the road toward or away from STEM courses and careers is first paved in middle school, where youth start to experience significant declines in engagement and attitudes towards math (see Martin, Way, Bobis, & Anderson, 2015; Wigfield, Byrnes, & Eccles, 2006; Mata, Monteiro, & Peixoto, 2012). In this mixed-method case study, we investigate the intersection of academic work, motivation, and emotions by examining how students’ emotional experiences when they get stuck working on math problems shapes their sense of competence in math and how they feel about their upcoming math courses. An adolescent is stuck when they do not know what to do next when solving a math problem. While research has studied students' negative reactions to working on challenging problems (Fulmer & Turner, 2014), we have yet to investigate students' experiences when they are stuck and how these experiences contribute to adolescents’ attitudes towards math. In this study, inductive and deductive analytic approaches were used to examine students’ 200 7th grade students’ emotional experiences when they get stuck while working on math coursework. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between students’ emotions when they are stuck and the development of self-competence in math and their feelings towards their math class the following year. Findings suggest that experiencing certain negative emotions, like anger, during critical moments like being stuck in math coursework can contribute to students’ motivational trajectories in math. Theoretical implications, future research directions, and implications to policy and practice are discussed.

Authors

• Tara Lynn Hofkens, University of Pittsburgh

• Emily A. Hutchinson, University of Pittsburgh

• Ming-Te Wang, University of Pittsburgh