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This thesis aimed to examine the relationship between motivational beliefs in science learning and science achievement for Taiwanese eighth graders who have been featured as having low motivational beliefs in science learning according to the serial results of the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) from an international perspective. The three motivational beliefs in science learning, namely science academic self-concept, intrinsic value of science, and utility value of science, were the focuses of this thesis based on the Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT). Moreover, given that the role of contexts has become more important in the development of academic motivation theory, the whole thesis consists of two studies, each of which examines the relationships from the viewpoint of two different contexts, namely the classroom and the home. Taiwanese TIMSS 2011 science data were used across the two studies.
In the first study, two-level hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze the relationship between motivational beliefs in science learning and science achievement at both the student and class levels. The results indicated that each motivational belief had a positive predictive effect on science achievement. Additionally, a positive class contextual effect of self-concept on science achievement was identified. Furthermore, class-mean utility value had a negative moderating effect on the relationship between utility value and science achievement. This study sheds light on the functioning of motivational beliefs in science learning among Taiwanese adolescents with consideration of the classroom motivational contexts.
On the other hand, the structural equation modeling in the second study was used to test a hypothesized model based on the EVT in which the relationship between parental involvement and science achievement was assumed to be mediated by motivational beliefs in science learning. The results indicated that science academic self-concept and utility value of science can mediate the effect of parental involvement on science achievement, whereas intrinsic value of science did not have such a relationship within the social context of the home in Taiwan. These results from the second study provide empirical evidence revealing the prominent role of the social context of the home, such as the impact of parent involvement, in students’ academic development through a motivational mechanism in Taiwan. Overall, the whole thesis, based on the Taiwanese representative sample, contributes to the science education literature by examining the relationships between motivational beliefs in science learning and science achievement in different contexts from the viewpoint of an East Asian culture. | en_US |