The relationship among middle school students' motivation perceptions of science class, science identification and career goals
| dc.contributor.author | Sun, Wei | en |
| dc.contributor.committeechair | Jones, Brett D. | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Williams, Thomas O. | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Doolittle, Peter E. | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Tendhar, Chosang | en |
| dc.contributor.department | Education, Vocational-Technical | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2018-06-05T08:01:03Z | en |
| dc.date.available | 2018-06-05T08:01:03Z | en |
| dc.date.issued | 2018-06-04 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation examined the extent to which pre-high school students' motivation-related perceptions of their science class affected their science identification, which sequentially affected their future science-related career goals. The MUSICĀ® Model of Motivation (Jones, 2009, 2018) includes five components (i.e., eMpowerment, Usefulness, Success, Interest, and Caring) and is designed to help teachers design instruction to promote students' motivation. Domain identification (Osborne and Jones, 2011) is a concept closely related to students' motivation and academic outcomes. In this study, data was collected from 311 pre-high school students and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis was conducted to test the structure pattern among the MUSIC model components, science identification, and science-related career goals. Results indicate that with three of the MUSIC model components (i.e., usefulness, success, and interest) significantly related to students' science identification, students' science identification was highly correlated to their science career goals. Moreover, this study demonstrated the structure patterns among the MUSIC model components and science identification varied by gender by conducting multi-group SEM analyses for a separate female sample (N = 161) and male sample (N = 150). Consistently, students' science identification was a strong predictor of their science career goals in both female and male groups. These findings are important for STEM educators because they indicate that it may be possible for teachers to impact students' science identification and career goals by focusing on students' perceptions of the MUSIC model components in science class. Moreover, these results contribute to the study of the large gender gap in STEM careers. Teachers can focus on specific teaching strategies and help female students develop their science identification in ways that lead to their long-term science-related career goals. | en |
| dc.description.abstractgeneral | This dissertation examined the extent to which pre-high school studentsā motivation-related perceptions of their science class affected their science identification, which sequentially affected their future science-related career goals. Science identification is a concept that describes the extent to which a student values science as an important part of his or her self (Osborne & Jones, 2011). One goal of this study examined how studentsā perceptions of their science class affected studentsā science identification. Specifically, this study focused on studentsā perceptions of the five components of the MUSICĀ® Model of Motivation (Jones, 2009, 2018): eMpowerment, Usefulness, Success, Interest, and Caring. The MUSIC model was developed to help teachers design instruction to promote studentsā motivation. In this study, results indicate that with three of the MUSIC model components (i.e., usefulness, success, and interest) significantly related to studentsā science identification, studentsā science identification was highly correlated to their science career goals. Moreover, this study reveals that the structure patterns among the MUSIC model components and science identification varied by gender. Consistently, studentsā science identification was a strong predictor of their science career goals in both female and male groups. These findings are important for STEM educators because they indicate that it may be possible for teachers to impact studentsā science identification and career goals by focusing on studentsā perceptions of the MUSIC model components in science class. Moreover, these results contribute to the study of the large gender gap in STEM careers, in which females are underrepresented. Teachers can focus on specific teaching strategies and help female students develop their science identification in ways that lead to their long-term science-related career goals. | en |
| dc.description.degree | Ph. D. | en |
| dc.format.medium | ETD | en |
| dc.identifier.other | vt_gsexam:15286 | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10919/83454 | en |
| dc.publisher | Virginia Tech | en |
| dc.rights | In Copyright | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | en |
| dc.subject | MUSICĀ® Model of Motivation | en |
| dc.subject | Domain Identification | en |
| dc.subject | Science Identification | en |
| dc.subject | Structural Equation Modeling | en |
| dc.subject | STEM | en |
| dc.subject | Gender | en |
| dc.subject | Career Intention | en |
| dc.title | The relationship among middle school students' motivation perceptions of science class, science identification and career goals | en |
| dc.type | Dissertation | en |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Curriculum and Instruction | en |
| thesis.degree.grantor | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | en |
| thesis.degree.level | doctoral | en |
| thesis.degree.name | Ph. D. | en |