Pixel International Conferences

As motivation is one of the crucial keys to better education, we explored the motivation of New Zealand students toward studying Science. We used the Science Motivation Questionnaire[1] to measure the motivation score of 648 students from 14 different high schools. To be able to identify and confirm latent components of the Science Motivation Questionnaire which have been discussed [2,3], we also employed factor analysis. We found boys were motivated toward studying science more than girls which was reflected in the different scores of only boys and only girls schools. The students who liked being challenged in Science lessons had the highest motivational scores in contrast to students who liked practicals and nothing. Students who mentioned practical specified things like “blowing stuff up”. The students mostly disliked too much writing  about their Science lessons, followed by listing specific topics. Perceiving Science as too hard and irrelevant were mentioned less often. Most of the students would consider taking non obligatory Biology lessons if they find them interesting and discover new things during them. This demant was followed by the future career requirements. It seems that in general, young Kiwis are motivated toward studying Science and are more likely to find it relevant and interesting than unconnected to real life and boring.

 

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