Student engagement in mathematics in the early secondary years can be fragile. Engagement in learning fluctuates in response to students’ mathematics experiences and is underpinned by numerous adaptive and maladaptive factors. Thirty-seven 11–12 year old students (grades 6–7) responded twice to a questionnaire to measure shifts in their engagement and motivation over a 1-year period as they transitioned from primary to secondary school. When plotted on spider graphs, the results of specific adaptive and maladaptive factors visually demonstrate “in and out” movements as students’ engagement levels shifted from time 1 to time 2. Subsequent semistructured interviews complemented questionnaire data by eliciting student beliefs about their achievement, feelings and behaviours towards mathematics. Interview data shed light on the reasons for individual student shifts in motivation and engagement during the transition. Together, data reveal four unique engagement/achievement characteristics. Significantly, students who were more alike in terms of their engagement reported similar factor patterns regardless of their achievement level. Findings draw attention to the importance of addressing mathematics engagement for students of all achievement levels.

学生在中学早期对数学的参与可能很脆弱。学习投入会随着学生的数学经验而波动，并受到许多适应性和适应不良因素的支持。37 名 11-12 岁的学生（6-7 年级）回答了两次问卷，以衡量他们在从小学过渡到中学的 1 年时间里的参与度和动机的变化。当绘制在蜘蛛图上时，特定的适应性和适应不良因素的结果在学生的参与水平从时间 1 到时间 2 转变时直观地展示了“进出”的运动。 随后的半结构化访谈通过引出学生对他们的成就、感受的信念来补充问卷数据和对数学的行为。访谈数据揭示了个别学生在过渡期间动机和参与度发生变化的原因。总之，数据揭示了四个独特的参与/成就特征。值得注意的是，在参与度方面更相似的学生报告了相似的因素模式，而不管他们的成就水平如何。调查结果提请注意解决所有成绩水平的学生数学参与的重要性。