Understanding the relations between the social climate and help seeking in secondary mathematics classes

This study examined the relations between students’ perceptions of the social climate of the secondary mathematics classroom and their help-seeking goals and intentions, in an effort to understand the factors that promote and hinder academic help-seeking. Help-seeking is an important self-regulated behaviour, enabling students to deal with academic challenge and consolidate their understanding in the mathematics classroom. The findings highlight the importance of integrating student-centred learning approaches in the traditional task-oriented secondary mathematics classroom. The use of cooperative learning approaches directly promoted students’ instrumental help-seeking, and indirectly reduced their help-seeking avoidance by supporting their social self-efficacy with peers.