How Belonging and Productive Struggle Can Motivate Students in Math

While parts of the education system have incorporated tailored methods to keep students engaged, mathematics is often still taught in traditional, non-differentiated ways. For example, many math lessons focus on teaching the one correct path to reach the one right answer to a problem. Memorizing formulas and drilling in the “proper” approach through repetition too often take precedence over conceptual understanding and experiencing multiple strategies, both of which are important according to research.