Motivational characteristic differences between procedural and conceptual fraction learners

Abstract

Research concerning the ability to do fractions suggests that procedural and conceptual understanding are important for learning fractions (Hallett, Nunes, Bryant, & Thorpe, 2012; National Mathematics Advisory Panel, 2008). No research to date, however, has looked at whether conceptual or procedural knowledge are differentially related to academic motivational variables. In this study, procedural and conceptual learners were examined on three motivational variables: i) self-concept; ii) self-attribution; and iii) goal-orientation. The data suggest that the two types of learners can be differentiated based on motivations, with correlational analyses demonstrating differences in math self-concept and students' use of ability attribution when explaining math failure.