Teacher Interest-Led Inquiry: Unlocking Teacher Passion to Enhance Student Learning Experiences in Primary Mathematics

James A Russo; Toby Russo

doi:10.29333/iejme/5843

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James A Russo ¹ ^* , Toby Russo ²

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¹ Monash University, AUSTRALIA² Victorian Department of Education, AUSTRALIA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Building on recent research into the importance of positive teacher emotions for student learning experiences, the current study involved five upper primary teachers at a Victorian government school developing inquiry mathematics units built around topic areas of personal interest or passion. Respective students (n=88) elected to participate in one of five structured inquires developed by these teachers. Despite being given a mandate to let their own passion drive their topic choice, interviews with teachers indicated that they invariably anticipated the interests of students when selecting their topic. Moreover, although teachers enjoyed the experience of developing and delivering the inquiry units, their emotional responses were inextricably linked to the perceived student learning experience. Student questionnaire data revealed that participation in the inquiry units was associated with increases in students’ intrinsic motivation to learn mathematics. Students attributed positive evaluations to the opportunity to learn mathematics in a context in which they were personally engaged. Possible future research directions are discussed.

Keywords

teacher enjoyment
student enjoyment
intrinsic motivation
inquiry-based learning
teaching mathematics thematically
primary mathematics

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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, 2019, Volume 14, Issue 3, 701-717

https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/5843

Publication date: 19 Jul 2019

Article Views: 3282

Article Downloads: 1854

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How to cite this article

APA

Russo, J. A., & Russo, T. (2019). Teacher Interest-Led Inquiry: Unlocking Teacher Passion to Enhance Student Learning Experiences in Primary Mathematics. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 14(3), 701-717. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/5843

Vancouver

Russo JA, Russo T. Teacher Interest-Led Inquiry: Unlocking Teacher Passion to Enhance Student Learning Experiences in Primary Mathematics. INT ELECT J MATH ED. 2019;14(3):701-17. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/5843

AMA

Russo JA, Russo T. Teacher Interest-Led Inquiry: Unlocking Teacher Passion to Enhance Student Learning Experiences in Primary Mathematics. INT ELECT J MATH ED. 2019;14(3), 701-717. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/5843

Chicago

Russo, James A, and Toby Russo. "Teacher Interest-Led Inquiry: Unlocking Teacher Passion to Enhance Student Learning Experiences in Primary Mathematics". International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education 2019 14 no. 3 (2019): 701-717. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/5843

Harvard

Russo, J. A., and Russo, T. (2019). Teacher Interest-Led Inquiry: Unlocking Teacher Passion to Enhance Student Learning Experiences in Primary Mathematics. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 14(3), pp. 701-717. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/5843

MLA

Russo, James A et al. "Teacher Interest-Led Inquiry: Unlocking Teacher Passion to Enhance Student Learning Experiences in Primary Mathematics". International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, vol. 14, no. 3, 2019, pp. 701-717. https://doi.org/10.29333/iejme/5843