Cognitive Appraisals, Achievement Emotions, and Motivation towards Learning Mathematics among Lower Secondary Students

Abstract

Guided by the control-value theory of achievement emotions, we examined the relationship between cognitive appraisals (i.e. self-efficacy and task value), learning anxiety, test anxiety, enjoyment and motivation towards learning mathematics among 302 students in their first year of lower secondary school in Uganda. Students were randomly selected from four urban schools located in Central and Western Uganda. Data were collected using several subscales from the Attitudes towards Math Inventory, the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale, and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, and analysed by structural equation modelling in Mplus 7.4. Results indicated a significant contributions of students’ cognitive appraisals towards enjoyment and anxiety for math. Additionally, enjoyment mediated the relationship between students’ cognitive appraisals and learning motivation. Several ways are discussed of strengthening students’ self-efficacy and task value as early as the first year of lower secondary school for higher enjoyment and motivation for learning maths.