Date of Award

Fall 2023

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Studies

First Advisor

Linda Silvernail

Abstract

Many students lack the ability to maintain positive perceptions of their mathematical self-belief, resulting in undesirable social, emotional, and academic outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a cognitive reframing strategy on third and fourth grade math intervention students’ perceptions of their mathematical competence. This study sought to understand the impact of this emotional regulation strategy on students’ ability to autonomously regulate their negative or irrational thoughts related to their mathematics abilities, as well as the impact on their self-beliefs. Data for this study were collected through semi-structured interviews with students, student reflections, and researcher field notes. Findings indicated that embedding the cognitive reframing strategy into instruction helped students to autonomously cope with their maladaptive thoughts related to mathematics and helped students to be less avoidant and more resilient when faced with a mathematical task; however, the effect of the strategy on self-belief is unclear from the data in this study. These findings illuminate the need for emotional regulation skills to be embedded daily into academic instruction. Additionally, this study shows the need for further research to investigate strategies for helping students to reconceptualize their understanding of how self-beliefs form.

Rights

© 2024, Kelly Eyre Frazee

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