Browsing by Author "Hill JL"

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    Diverse Students’ Mathematical Wellbeing
    (Springer Nature, 2024-04-18) Hill JL; Hunter J
    Supporting student wellbeing in schools is increasingly becoming a global priority. However, research and initiatives primarily focus on general wellbeing rather than subject-specific experiences. Given the pervasive levels of mathematics anxiety, negative attitudes, and disengagement in mathematics education, we argue for a more contextualised wellbeing approach. We define ‘mathematical wellbeing’ (MWB) as the fulfilment of values whilst learning mathematics accompanied by positive feelings (e.g., enjoyment) and functioning (e.g., engagement) in the discipline. We report on 3073 New Zealand Year Three to Eight students’ responses to a survey measuring their fulfilment of seven MWB values: accomplishments, cognitions, engagement, meaning, perseverance, positive emotions, and relationships. Students’ MWB was highest for relationships and perseverance and lowest for engagement and positive emotions; MWB declined from Years Three to Eight; females often rated higher MWB than males; school sociodemographic status was mostly not significant, whilst engagement and positive emotions differed across ethnicities. Research implications include understanding target areas to improve diverse students’ experiences and wellbeing in mathematics education.
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    Examining the mathematics education values of diverse groups of students
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2023-03-19) Hill JL; Hunter J
    In recent years, there has been increasing interest in examining values in relation to mathematics education research. Our exploratory study examines the mathematics education values of culturally diverse middle school students in New Zealand. We investigated how student values differed across demographic variables including school, ethnicity, gender and grades. Students completed an online survey to indicate the importance of 14 different mathematics education values. The overall mean ratings for each of the 14 values determined the relative value importance across the sample. One-way ANOVA assessed demographic group differences. Findings showed that respect was rated as the most important value across all student groups. Students from Pacific nations placed significantly greater importance on accuracy, communication, family and recall compared to the other ethnicities. Female students emphasized family, practice, respect, risk-taking and utility more than males. We argue that to provide equitable mathematics classrooms that support wellbeing, we need to recognize what diverse student groups value and then transform pedagogy to align with and build from students’ values. This article provides a contribution by offering a way of understanding and highlighting similarities and differences in student values which impact on students’ learning experiences and wellbeing.
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    Exploring mathematical wellbeing across cultures: insights from diverse students
    (Springer Nature, 2024-09-18) Hunter J; Hill JL
    Across many countries, including New Zealand, diverse groups including indigenous, migrant, and marginalised communities, are under-represented in mathematics, as evidenced by achievement disparities and disengagement from higher-level mathematics. Both research and policy have focused on developing equitable education outcomes for all students. A key aspect of this is wellbeing, including within mathematics classrooms, which includes identifying classroom environments that enable wellbeing. This study examines mathematical wellbeing (MWB) across different ethnicities and genders, with a case study focus on students from Pacific heritages. Analysing qualitative responses from over 12,000 diverse students revealed that positive relationships in the mathematics classroom were most commonly associated with students’ MWB. Accomplishment and cognitive factors, including mathematical accuracy, learning new things, and understanding, were also identified as important. Minor gender differences emerged, with female students emphasising mathematical understanding, accuracy, and relationships more than male students. The Pacific student case study highlighted the importance of both cognitive aspects (learning new things and understanding) and relationships (peer and teacher support), uncovering an alignment between cultural values and MWB. This study empirically confirms seven universal values supporting student MWB, previously identified in Australian and Chinese contexts, suggesting that teachers internationally may align pedagogical practices with these values to support most students’ MWB. However, the instrumental values serving these universal values appear culturally unique. This research contributes novel insights to the field by examining wellbeing with a subject-specific focus through student-generated responses, offering implications for developing more equitable and culturally inclusive mathematics classrooms.