Beliefs, Attitudes, and Emotions: New Views of Affect in Mathematics Education

Abstract

All of the chapters in this book discuss research and theory related to the role that affect plays in mathematical problem solving. This chapter begins with a reanalysis of the affective domain, describing affect in terms of beliefs, attitudes, and emotions. The discussion of these three topics indicates the broad impact of affective factors in mathematics learning and relates beliefs, attitudes, and emotions to key chapters in this book. The chapter continues with a discussion of several broad themes that recur with some regularity in this book, including the central role of affect in problem solving, the need to integrate research on cognition and affect, and the importance of the social context in the study of affective factors in mathematics learning. The chapter concludes with comments on some methodological issues and their implications for future research on affective factors in the learning and teaching of mathematics.