Lower secondary school students’ conceptions about their effort in mathematics education

Lovisa Sumpter; Astrid Pettersson; Samuel Sollerman

doi:10.29333/iejme/16521

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Lovisa Sumpter ¹ ^* , Astrid Pettersson ¹ , Samuel Sollerman ¹

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¹ Department of Teaching and Learning, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SWEDEN^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Previous research has shown the importance of affect when seeking knowledge about students’ achievements. However, there are surprisingly few studies looking at students’ expressed effort on a longer time scale. Using data spanning over almost three decades, in this paper, we analyze Swedish lower secondary school students’ responses to items in relation to large-scale assessments in 1992, 2003, and 2019. The two general results were that students express a lower level of goal-directed motivation, whereas the responses regarding students’ motivation as an evaluation of effort, most students state that they do not give up when facing a difficult task, that they would learn more and do better if they put more effort into their studies, and that they are happy with their achievement. Looking at changes between the different years, several items show a significant difference in the Swedish students’ answers between 1992 and 2003 and no difference by 2019. The results might explain the changes in achievement that took place between 1992 and 2003.

Keywords

evaluation of effort
large-scale assessment
lower secondary school
mathematics
motivation

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

INT ELECT J MATH ED, Volume 20, Issue 3, August 2025, Article No: em0839

https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/16521

Publication date: 01 Jul 2025

Online publication date: 18 Jun 2025

Article Views: 79

Article Downloads: 59

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How to cite this article

APA

Sumpter, L., Pettersson, A., & Sollerman, S. (2025). Lower secondary school students’ conceptions about their effort in mathematics education. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 20(3), em0839. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/16521

Vancouver

Sumpter L, Pettersson A, Sollerman S. Lower secondary school students’ conceptions about their effort in mathematics education. INT ELECT J MATH ED. 2025;20(3):em0839. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/16521

AMA

Sumpter L, Pettersson A, Sollerman S. Lower secondary school students’ conceptions about their effort in mathematics education. INT ELECT J MATH ED. 2025;20(3), em0839. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/16521

Chicago

Sumpter, Lovisa, Astrid Pettersson, and Samuel Sollerman. "Lower secondary school students’ conceptions about their effort in mathematics education". International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education 2025 20 no. 3 (2025): em0839. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/16521

Harvard

Sumpter, L., Pettersson, A., and Sollerman, S. (2025). Lower secondary school students’ conceptions about their effort in mathematics education. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 20(3), em0839. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/16521

MLA

Sumpter, Lovisa et al. "Lower secondary school students’ conceptions about their effort in mathematics education". International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, vol. 20, no. 3, 2025, em0839. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/16521