Adolescents’ Motivational Beliefs in Science Learning

Sufen Chen^1*

¹數位學習與教育研究所, 國立台灣科技大學, taipei, Taiwan

* Presenter:Sufen Chen, email:sufchen@mail.ntust.edu.tw

This lecture presents the development of Taiwan students’ science motivational beliefs based on the international database Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and a 3-year longitudinal study. According to the Expectancy-Value Theory, the motivational beliefs are conceptualized as self-concept, intrinsic value, utility value, and cost of learning science. These beliefs influence and predict students’ engagement in science activities and their choices of major and career in the future. Taiwan 4th and 8th graders’ motivational beliefs are compared with 21 countries from TIMSS 2011 and 2015. The predictive power of motivational beliefs, gender difference, and how the difference is affected by the gender equality of a country will be discussed. Moreover, the trajectory of the development of middle school students’ beliefs is derived using a longitudinal study, where we followed 676 students from the 7th to 9th grades. Time points where students change beliefs dramatically and the causal relationship between beliefs and science achievement will be investigated.

Keywords: motivational belief, intrinsic value, self-concept, TIMSS