Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Students' Motivation and Self-Regulation in Science Learning

Students’ motivational beliefs and self‐regulatory practices have been identified as instrumental in influencing the engagement of students in the learning process. An important aim of science education is to empower students by nurturing the belief that they can succeed in science learning and to c...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Velayutham, Sunitadevi, Aldridge, Jill, Fraser, Barry
Format: Journal Article
Published: Routledge 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/47987
_version_ 1848757985663254528
author Velayutham, Sunitadevi
Aldridge, Jill
Fraser, Barry
author_facet Velayutham, Sunitadevi
Aldridge, Jill
Fraser, Barry
author_sort Velayutham, Sunitadevi
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Students’ motivational beliefs and self‐regulatory practices have been identified as instrumental in influencing the engagement of students in the learning process. An important aim of science education is to empower students by nurturing the belief that they can succeed in science learning and to cultivate the adaptive learning strategies required to help to bring about that success. This article reports the development and validation of an instrument to measure salient factors related to the motivation and self‐regulation of students in lower secondary science classrooms. The development of the instrument involved identifying key determinants of students’ motivation and self‐regulation in science learning based on theoretical and research underpinnings. Once the instrument was developed, a pilot study involving 52 students from two Grade 8 science classes was undertaken. Quantitative data were collected from 1,360 students in 78 classes across Grades 8, 9, and 10, in addition to in‐depth qualitative information gathered from 10 experienced science teachers and 12 Grade 8 students. Analyses of the data suggest that the survey has strong construct validity when used with lower secondary students. This survey could be practically valuable as a tool for gathering information that may guide classroom teachers in refocusing their teaching practices and help to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention programmes.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T09:36:48Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-47987
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T09:36:48Z
publishDate 2011
publisher Routledge
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-479872017-09-13T16:08:46Z Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Students' Motivation and Self-Regulation in Science Learning Velayutham, Sunitadevi Aldridge, Jill Fraser, Barry Science learning Motivation Questionnaire validation Learning goal Self‐efficacy Self‐regulation Task value Students’ motivational beliefs and self‐regulatory practices have been identified as instrumental in influencing the engagement of students in the learning process. An important aim of science education is to empower students by nurturing the belief that they can succeed in science learning and to cultivate the adaptive learning strategies required to help to bring about that success. This article reports the development and validation of an instrument to measure salient factors related to the motivation and self‐regulation of students in lower secondary science classrooms. The development of the instrument involved identifying key determinants of students’ motivation and self‐regulation in science learning based on theoretical and research underpinnings. Once the instrument was developed, a pilot study involving 52 students from two Grade 8 science classes was undertaken. Quantitative data were collected from 1,360 students in 78 classes across Grades 8, 9, and 10, in addition to in‐depth qualitative information gathered from 10 experienced science teachers and 12 Grade 8 students. Analyses of the data suggest that the survey has strong construct validity when used with lower secondary students. This survey could be practically valuable as a tool for gathering information that may guide classroom teachers in refocusing their teaching practices and help to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention programmes. 2011 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/47987 10.1080/09500693.2010.541529 Routledge restricted
spellingShingle Science learning
Motivation
Questionnaire validation
Learning goal
Self‐efficacy
Self‐regulation
Task value
Velayutham, Sunitadevi
Aldridge, Jill
Fraser, Barry
Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Students' Motivation and Self-Regulation in Science Learning
title Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Students' Motivation and Self-Regulation in Science Learning
title_full Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Students' Motivation and Self-Regulation in Science Learning
title_fullStr Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Students' Motivation and Self-Regulation in Science Learning
title_full_unstemmed Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Students' Motivation and Self-Regulation in Science Learning
title_short Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Students' Motivation and Self-Regulation in Science Learning
title_sort development and validation of an instrument to measure students' motivation and self-regulation in science learning
topic Science learning
Motivation
Questionnaire validation
Learning goal
Self‐efficacy
Self‐regulation
Task value
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/47987