Development, validation, and implementation of the elementary mathematics motivation inventory (EMMI): examining motivational constructs in elementary mathematics

Introduction Measuring psychological constructs in young children is often a challenging process. Estimating constructs such as motivation in elementary students can prove to be problematic and inconsistent [50]. As a result of these challenges, motivation research has focused on older students, usually at the secondary level. However, early elementary years are thought to be critical in students’ development of a wide range of attitudes toward schooling, including their academic motivation [31, 37]. These early years have the potential to affect students’ subsequent development, setting a foundation for either success or failure in later grades. The formative nature of the elementary grades signals the need for more effective methods of measuring motivational constructs in young children, especially when high motivation has been found to correlate with positive Abstract