In this study, a path model was utilised to model the relationships among motivational beliefs, metacognitive strategy use, and effort regulation in science courses. There were 391 high‐school students participating in the study. The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire was used to measure students' motivational beliefs, metacognitive strategy use, and effort regulation. Results showed that intrinsic goal orientation, beliefs about value of a task, control of learning beliefs, and self‐efficacy for learning and performance were predictors of students' metacognitive strategy use. Effect of motivational beliefs on effort regulation was mediated through metacognitive strategy use. In addition, the path model revealed interrelationships among motivational beliefs. It was concluded that students should have motivation to use metacognitive strategies and engage in a task.

Modeling the Relationships among Students' Motivational Beliefs, Metacognitive Strategy Use, and Effort Regulation.

This study examined the effects of motivation to learn science, science self-beliefs, and science instructional practices on science achievement of 13,985 15-year-old students from 431 schools across Canada. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses, while controlling for student- and school-level demographic characteristics, revealed the substantial predictive effects of motivation to learn science, science self-beliefs, and science instructional practices on science achievement of adolescents. Motivational beliefs—self-efficacy and self-concept—and enjoyment of science had substantial positive predictive effects on science achievement. In contrast, general interest in science had a negative predictive effect on science achievement in the context of other variables. Whereas science teaching using hands-on activities had a substantial positive predictive effect on science achievement, science teaching using student investigations had a substantial negative predictive effect in the context of other variables. The final HLM model indicated that only 8% of the variance in science achievement was between schools and 92% of the variance involved students within schools.

Influence of Motivation, Self-Beliefs, and Instructional Practices on Science Achievement of Adolescents in Canada.

Empirical research has supported the long held assumption that individual differences exist in how students learn. Recent methodological advancements have allowed educational research to examine not only what students learn, but also how they learn. Research has found that active involvement in learning, including setting meaningful goals, selecting appropriate and task-specific strategies, monitoring motivational levels, and adapting based on feedback are all positively related to learning outcomes. How can teachers support students’ development and use of these learning processes? The goal of this paper is to examine research that has used the Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) theory to consider this broad question. Methodological advancements recently used in this field of research, various SRL theoretical frameworks guiding this research, and studies that empirically examined self-regulation with both preservice and inservice teachers are discussed. The paper concludes with the theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the reviewed studies.

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Self-Regulated Learning in the Classroom: A Literature Review on the Teacher's Role

The home environment that parents provide their gifted children can have a significant impact on academic motivation, yet limited research has focused on this topic. Self-determination theory, a comprehensive framework of motivation, was used in the current study to explore two research questions: (a) What attitudes do parents of gifted students have toward the academic motivation of their children? (b) What approaches do parents of gifted students use at home to develop academic motivation? Interviews with 30 parents of gifted children from across the United States revealed three higher order themes including Parents as Experts, Scaffolding, and Behavior Modification. From a self-determination theory perspective, results suggest that despite good intentions, the parents of this study were inconsistent in providing home environments that support their children's development of internalized forms of academic motivation.

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Parental Influences on the Academic Motivation of Gifted Students: A Self- Determination Theory Perspective

This study examined the effects of individual student factors and classroom factors on elementary science achievement within and across five countries. The student‐level factors included gender, self‐confidence in science and home resources. The classroom‐level factors included teacher characteristics, instructional variables and classroom composition. Results for the USA and four other countries, Singapore, Japan, Australia and Scotland, were reported. Multilevel effects were examined through Hierarchical Linear Modelling, using the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2003 fourth grade dataset. Overall, the results showed that selected student background characteristics were consistently related to elementary science achievement in countries investigated. At the student level, higher levels of home resources and self‐confidence and at the classroom level, higher levels of class mean home resources yielded higher science scores on the TIMSS 2003. In general, teacher and instructional var...

Multilevel Effects of Student and Classroom Factors on Elementary Science Achievement in Five Countries

High-Achieving Students: Their Motivational Goals, Self-Regulation and Achievement and Relationships to Their Teachers' Goals and Strategy-Based Instruction.

This paper compares and contrasts school science achievement between two top scoring nations, Japan and Singapore, on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assessments. The first part of the study is devoted to examining cross-national comparisons on selected background questions administered in the TIMSS survey, while the second part examines selected educational attributes and practices that might help explain their consistently high achievement in science. Attention to TIMSS data has chiefly focused on the achievement gap between US and other nations. This report moves beyond US deficit comparisons to examine results and programs of high achieving nations to better inform efforts to close the gaps.

School Science Achievement in Japan and Singapore: A Tale of Two Cities

Motivation is an internal force that energizes a person into action and gives it direction. Students in institutes of higher education have to self-regulate their learning behavior and so take responsibility for their own learning. They have to make decisions in ways which help them to accomplish their learning tasks. The level of academic motivation may play an important role in the way they attend to these learning tasks. This study examined whether there is any association between aspects of motivation and the self-reported use of learning strategies by student teachers in a teacher education course. Some positive relationship was found between the motivation variables and learning strategies. For example students who were learning goal oriented reported using more complex and deep level processing strategies like elaboration, organization, critical thinking and metacognitive self-regulation than students who are achievement goal oriented. Some suggestions for motivating students are proposed.

Lourdusamy Atputhasamy

Papers

High-Achieving Students: Their Motivational Goals, Self-Regulation and Achievement and Relationships to Their Teachers' Goals and Strategy-Based Instruction.

School Science Achievement in Japan and Singapore: A Tale of Two Cities

Association Between Motivation and Self-Reported Use of Learning Strategies by Trainee Teachers