A situative perspective on motivation in mathematics education: a systematic review

Abstract Motivation has long been recognised as a key factor in students’ learning, achievement, and engagement in mathematics. In this systematic review, we examine how a situative perspective on motivation has been conceptualised, theorised, and operationalised in recent research on learning and instruction in mathematics. Specifically, we analyse the ways in which situatedness is recognised and captured across studies positioned across major motivational frameworks (i.e., expectancy-value, interest, self-determination, achievement goal, and social-cognitive theory), and the methodological approaches employed (i.e., participants, analytical methods, data sources, and measures) until the first half of 2025. Our review identifies 76 studies that focus on situatedness in the motivation for learning mathematics, the majority of which are empirical, quantitative, and employ variable-centred approaches. Across the motivational theoretical frameworks, situated expectancy-value theory is the most prevalent and survey methods dominate. Although all studies recognise the importance of situatedness or examine situatedness in research, its temporal and contextual aspects are addressed mostly separately, with micro- (e.g., activities) and mezzo-levels (e.g., classroom) dominating the contextual perspective. This systematic review advances motivational research by highlighting key aspects of situatedness in recent studies of motivation, examining its role in research on motivation, and suggesting future directions for research on learning mathematics. Following the presentation of findings and discussion, we also highlighted contributions to this special issue.