ABSTRACT
Motivating students to learn mathematics is, for many teachers, the chief concern when preparing to teach a lesson. Generally, without a definite formula for motivation, the best teachers can do is to begin the class in an interesting way and allow their genuine enthusiasm to be apparent throughout the lesson. Rather than developing ideas for motivating students with topics of special interest to the teacher, often based on a teacher's personal experience, teachers should fortify themselves with a set of techniques from which motivational activities for almost any mathematics lesson can be drawn. Extrinsic motivation usually takes place outside the learner's control, in the learning environment, and, to a large extent, under the control of the teacher. When thinking of ways to generate student interest in a mathematics topic, certain extrinsic methods of motivation come immediately to mind, such as rewards that occur outside the learner's control.
