Understanding motivational structures that differentially predict engagement and achievement in middle school science

ABSTRACT

Middle school has been documented as the period in which a drop in students’ science interest and achievement occurs. This trend indicates a lack of motivation for learning science; however, little is known about how different aspects of motivation interact with student engagement and science learning outcomes. This study examines the relationships among motivational factors, engagement, and achievement in middle school science (grades 6–8). Data were obtained from middle school students in the United States (N = 2094). The theoretical relationships among motivational constructs, including self-efficacy, and three types of goal orientations (mastery, performance approach, and performance avoid) were tested. The results showed that motivation is best modeled as distinct intrinsic and extrinsic factors; lending evidence that external, performance based goal orientations factor separately from self-efficacy and an internal, mastery based goal orientation. Second, a model was tested to examine how engagement mediated the relationships between intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors and science achievement. Engagement mediated the relationship between intrinsic motivation and science achievement, whereas extrinsic motivation had no relationship with engagement and science achievement. Implications for how classroom practice and educational policy emphasize different student motivations, and in turn, can support or hinder students’ science learning are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Engagement
• middle school
• motivation
• science
• self-efficacy
• achievement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Christine S. Lee is a researcher in the Institute for STEM Education at California State University East Bay. Her research focuses on examining factors and processes related to teaching and learning in K12 and higher education settings.

Kathryn N. Hayes is a professor in the department of Educational Leadership at California State University East Bay. Her research focuses on the role of leadership and organizational capacity in science education reform at urban schools.

Jeffery C. Seitz is a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at California State University East Bay and the Principal Investigator for the NSF Integrated Middle School (IMSS) Partnership.

Rachelle DiStefano is a director for the Center for Science Education and Research at California State University East Bay. She is a co-Principal Investigator for NSF Integrated Middle School (IMSS) Partnership, and Principal Investigator for the NSF/DRK12 Next Generation Alliance for Science Educators Toolkit (Next Gen ASET).

Dawn M. O'Connor is a science director at the Alameda County Office of Education and the project director and co-Principal Investigator for the Integrated Middle School (IMSS) Partnership.

Notes

1. Ryan and Deci (2000a, 2000b) provide a more detailed gradation of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in their Self-Determination Theory, which presents motivation on a continuum ranging from intrinsic to amotivation, including four different types of extrinsic motivation (integrated, identified, introjected, and external). However, because it was beyond the scope of this study, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation was not examined at this grain level.

 

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [grant number 0962804].