Global Journal of Human Social Science, G: Linguistics and Education, Volume 23 Issue 8

II. S tudent E ngagement and M otivation In their Engagement theory, Kearsley and Shneiderman (1998) proposed that student learning is enhanced with meaningful engagement through interactions and worthwhile activities. Based on this theory, instructors can keep students engaged through strategies that involve collaboration, active learning, and projects that can make authentic contributions (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1998). Various theories for learning motivation exist, such as the self- determination theory, which posits that humans are motivated by intrinsic and extrinsic factors (Gopalan et al., 2017). As such, students may be intrinsically motivated by their own desire to learn or extrinsically motivated by rewards such as obtaining good grades or recognition from educators and peers (Gopalan et al., 2017). Student engagement and student motivation have both been cited as significant factors for improving student success, retention, and program completion (Ní Shé et al., 2023; Nofriyandi & Andrian, 2022). Furthermore, since the emergence of new educational theories and technological advancements, the educational paradigm has leaned more towards student-centric ideals and practices over instructor centered ones, which calls for increased levels of student autonomy and engagement. As social beings, humans learn best from each other through communication and cooperation (Engel et al., 2023). Students often relied on interactions with their peers and educators for support and motivation. Although all types of interactions were perceived to be meaningful for online learning, students’ interactions with their peers appeared to be the strongest factor (Bolliger & Martin, 2020). The value of student-student interactions may be rooted in the sense of community, which is a valuable psychological aspect of online learning (Bolliger & Martin, 2020). However, with the pandemic and subsequent educational shutdown, students were forced to work in isolation away from their peers and educators, making it difficult to collaborate and maintain healthy social connections. A survey of 711 higher education staff and students from 41 different countries showed that loneliness and isolation were the most significant challenges they experienced during the COVID 19 shutdown (Leal Filho et al., 2021). Students especially missed having face-to-face interactions with their peers and educators (Leal Filho et al., 2021; Turan et al., 2022). As a university student in Turkey stated, “[online education] doesn’t offer the interaction that face-to-face education does” (Turan et al., 2022, p.11). This lack of interaction may demotivate students from attending online classes or participating in online activities. Educators deemed the atmosphere and circumstances of online education to be ineffective, leading to a more superficial form of student engagement wherein educators could not always feel the students’ presence in classes (Brunetto et al., 2022; Sum & Oancea, 2022). For instance, university mathematics professors from different countries expressed feelings of estrangement during the start of the pandemic as they lectured for two hours without receiving any feedback from students, which was frustrating for them because they were used to the participative styles of teaching that are often used in complex abstract subjects such as mathematics (Brunetto et al., 2022). In previous face-to-face classes, mathematics educators were able to form groups of students to solve a mathematical problem, ask questions when necessary, and discuss the solutions as a class. However, these practices were made difficult in the online setting where student engagement was significantly reduced (Brunetto et al., 2022). Higher education students in a study involving 23 institutions across the United States have indeed reported significantly less participation in online classes than in their previous face-to- face classes (Wester et al., 2021). Educators are thus challenged to implement strategies that enable active interaction and engagement, such as group discussions (Engel et al., 2023). Unlike in the physical classroom, educators and students are separated from each other in the online classroom, thereby limiting opportunities for such strategies (Ahmad et al., 2022). Mathematics educators, like their counterparts in other subjects, had felt the magnitude ofdistance not just from their students but also from their practice of teaching as they were unable to apply some of their established teaching strategies online (Albano et al., 2021). Students struggled to understand complex mathematical concepts in their online classes without the in- person guidance of their instructors, which led to disengagement and demotivation. Students were also undergoing major adjustments in various aspects of their lives, which may have left them with little energy and motivation for school. Furthermore, the emergency transition to online education has highlighted the social inequity in students, with many less privileged students having issues with lack of digital tools or skills for online education. Some educators expressed their worries that students who had trouble accessing or utilizing online education would be left behind and that this would lead to more pronounced inequity once everyone returns to face-to-face classes (Albano et al., 2021). Educators have thus had to discover or develop new approaches, strategies, or practices to improve student engagement and motivation, and to reach all students during the COVID 19 pandemic (Ahmad et al., 2022; Brunetto et al., 2022; Doño & Mangila, 2022; Hunter et al., 2022; Koh & Daniel, 2022). Notably, some mathematics educators have indeed managed to establish strategies and practices that elicited better student engagement within the online setting during the pandemic (Brunetto et al., 2022; Volume XXIII Issue VIII Version I 2 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 G © 2023 Global Journals Student Engagement and Motivation in Post-Pandemic Higher Education Mathematics: A Concept Paper