What is your favourite subject at school? What do you like about it?
Interview Questions
Section 1. Introduction (gain the trust of the student and familiarise them with being interviewed)
- Tell me about yourself, what are your favourite hobbies?
- What is your favourite subject at school? What do you like about it?
- What is your least favourite subject at school? What do you not like about it?
Section 2. The Control-Value Theory of Achievement Emotions (self-concept)
- Do you find maths easy or hard?
- Do you think you are good at maths? (Yes, no) 7. How do you know?
- Do you think you can get better at maths? Or do you think you are either good at maths or you are not?
Section 3. Impact of Teachers
- Is your maths teacher a man or a woman?
- What do you like most about the way your teacher teaches maths?
- What do you like least about the way your teacher teaches maths? Can you tell me more about that?
- Does your teacher ever ask you to answer a question in front your maths class? How does that make you feel?
- Thinking back to the teacher you had last year, in Year 6 at primary school, Was your maths teacher a man or woman? did he/she teach maths in a similar way to the teacher you have now? Or are the two teachers quite different? Can you tell me more about that?
- Which teacher did you find easier to understand? Why?
- Do you ask your teacher for help? When do you ask for help normally? How often do you ask for help?
- Do you think it’s ok to ask the teacher for help? Why/why not?
- Do you think your teacher is good at maths? How can you tell?
- Do you prefer a teacher who is a man or a woman? Or do you have no preference? Why?
Section 4. Effects of Peers
- How do you think your maths is compared to the other children in your class?
- Has anyone in your maths class ever made you feel bad about your maths?
- Do you think it is cool to be good at maths?
- Do you ever worry about what your friends might say about your maths/the way you behave in maths class?
Section 5. Impact of Gender
- How would you compare girls and boys in mathematics?
- Do you think they’re the same or do you think girls are better, boys are better? Why do you think this?
- Do you think maths is more of a girls’ subject, more of a boys’ subject or is a subject for both boys and girls?
Section 6. Impact of Parents
- Who do you normally talk to about school stuff at home?
- Who normally helps you with your maths at home?
- Do you think your (parents/mum/dad/etc) care about how well you do in maths? Why?
- Do you ever worry about what your (parents/mum/dad/etc) might say about your maths? Why?
- Do you think your (parents/mum/dad/etc) like maths? How can you tell?
Section 4. Experiences/Origins of MA
- How do you feel when you are in a maths lesson? Why do you feel like that?
- Do you ever have any more physical feelings in a maths lesson? What I mean by that is something like a headache, or feeling a bit hot, or having butterflies in your tummy… etc.?
- Do you always feel like that in a maths lesson? Can you think of any situations when you might feel differently in a maths lesson? E.g. how would you feel in a maths test/ when starting a new topic in maths/when your teacher asks you a maths question in front of the class?
- How does the way you feel in maths affect how you behave in your maths lesson?
- Do any other subjects make you feel like that, or is it only in maths when you feel like that? Why?
- When did you start feeling that way about maths?
- Have you always felt that way about maths?
- Have your feelings towards maths changed in Year 7 compared to when you were in Year 6? Can you tell me about that?
- What do you think made you start feeling that way about maths? E.g. Do you think it was how the subject was taught? Or is it something that someone in your family/ one of your friends said? Do you think you feel that way because that’s just the way you are?
Section 5. Ways/methods to reduce anxiety and improve experience.
- Think about a time in class when you did learn maths and got better? Enjoyed yourself? Tell me about that time?
- Is there something that happens in class that helps you learn?
- What do you think teachers can do to make maths more fun? Support your learning?
- Do you think working with your peers in class can help you better enjoy maths? / Learn maths?
- What others things can school do/offer to help you better enjoy maths and improve your learning?
- What can do you think you can do yourself to try and improve you understanding of mathematics? Have you tried any of these things?
Additional comments
- Is there anything more you want to add about your learning or your experiences in maths?
