Flipping the mathematics classroom: affordances and motivating factors

Secondary mathematics teachers are required to contend with a number of challenges including motivating students to engage with mathematics, covering the prescribed curriculum, differentiating the content for a range of learners, and preparing students for further study and externally imposed assessment tasks. The flipped classroom offers an approach to teaching that can be used to address these challenges, with its autonomous nature being particularly applicable to mastery learning. This study investigates the characteristics of a flipped classroom and its impact upon students’ motivations for engaging with mathematical course content in two different secondary mathematics classes. The findings suggest that the flipped classroom has a number of affordances which address students’ needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness, particularly when enacted within a mastery paradigm.