EXPLORING FACTORS THAT AFFECT UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS' MOTIVATION TO LEARN CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS

TitleEXPLORING FACTORS THAT AFFECT UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS' MOTIVATION TO LEARN CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2022
AuthorsSalta, K, Koulougliotis, D
JournalJournal of Baltic Science Education
Volume21
Issue6A
Start Page1191-1204
PaginationContinuous
Date PublishedDecember/2022
Type of ArticleOriginal article
ISSN1648-3898
Other NumbersE-ISSN 2538-7138
Keywordsacademic major, gender effect, quantitative research, science learning, students’ experiences
Abstract

The pivotal role of motivation in fostering science learning has long been recognized and it is a field of active research worldwide. This research aimed at examining the effect of three different factors (used as independent variables) on shaping the motivation of undergraduate students for chemistry and physics learning via multiple regression analysis. Motivation (dependent variable) was measured via the use of the chemistry and physics-specific versions of Science Motivation Questionnaire II (SMQ II). The participants were 281 full-time undergraduate students in three different academic departments of a Greek tertiary education institution. Students’ gender was shown to exert an effect of small size on their motivation for chemistry and physics learning, while a larger, however mostly small effect, was observed with regard to the students’ academic major. Students’ academic experience from the attendance of physics and chemistry courses was measured via an instrument which was developed specifically for this research, and it was shown to be the most influential factor affecting their respective learning motivations. In addition, strong evidence was provided that the academic experiences acquired during tertiary education have a significantly more intense effect in configuring students’ motivation to learn either chemistry or physics relative to the ones obtained in the immediate past referring to the previous educational grade (secondary education).

URLhttps://oaji.net/articles/2022/987-1672585587.pdf
DOI10.33225/jbse/22.21.1191
Refereed DesignationRefereed
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