Exploring which aspects facilitate motivation towards mathematics. A case study with pre-service primary school teachers

Cuando un estudiante experimenta flujo en una tarea (está plenamente concentrado y disfrutando al realizarla), aumenta su rendimiento y el deseo por continuar realizando tareas similares. Esta investigación ex- plora qué factores favorecen o dificultan la aparición de experiencias de flujo, en estudiantes universitarios del grado en educación primaria, al trabajar en grupos de cuatro o cinco estudiantes. Para ello, se compara el comportamiento de dos grupos de estudiantes al resolver dos tareas matemáticas. Los resultados muestran la importancia de establecer me- tas claras, proporcionar retroalimentación inmediata y que el estudiante confíe en su capacidad para superar la tarea.When students experience flow doing a task (they are deeply focused on the task and enjoying it), their performance and their engagement with similar tasks increase. This research explores which aspects facilitate or block the flow experience with regard to pre-service primary school teachers while working in groups of four or five students. For this pur- pose, the researchers compare the behavior of two groups of students solving two mathematical tasks. The results show the importance of set- ting clear goals, providing immediate feedback and students trust their ability to accomplish the task