The relationship between individual type, underachievement and the attributional motivation of secondary school science students : intervention approaches for underachievers.

Relationships between underachievement, individual type and attributional motivation were investigated among 37 underachieving senior science students from a boys' college, a girls' college and a coeducational college in New Zealand. An adaptation of the Myers-Briggs type inventory was use...

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Main Author: Restall, Leonard J.
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Curtin University 1998
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/534
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author Restall, Leonard J.
author_facet Restall, Leonard J.
author_sort Restall, Leonard J.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Relationships between underachievement, individual type and attributional motivation were investigated among 37 underachieving senior science students from a boys' college, a girls' college and a coeducational college in New Zealand. An adaptation of the Myers-Briggs type inventory was used to identify individual type, and attributional motivation was determined by using two questionnaires, based upon attributional constructs established by Weiner (1979). Students in the sample were also interviewed. Results show a significant difference, too great to be attributed to a sampling fluctuation, between the observed number of students and the greater than expected number of students, particularly for the ESFJ (Extrovert-Sensing- Feeling-Judging) and ISFJ (Introvert-Sensing-Feeling-Judging) individual 'types' within the sample of underachieving students. A difference also was found between the observed number of Function Pairs, derived from the Myers-Briggs descriptions, and the expected number of Pairs within the sample. These differences were also too great to be attributed to a sampling fluctuation.A general lack of motivation was found among the students, with 'lack of effort' being attributed as a major cause of underachievement. Differences in attribution trends were found between different 'types'. Most of the students indicated that they were passive learners and generally were unaware of how to use metacognitive strategies to improve their learning and motivation.Implications from this research suggest that intervention approaches should be made by educators to improve accountability and reduce underachievement by students. Recommendations for various approaches used by the author, and by others described in the thesis to reduce or overcome underachievement are suggested. These might be used for individual types who are prone to underachieve, and for underachievers generally.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-5342017-02-20T06:40:51Z The relationship between individual type, underachievement and the attributional motivation of secondary school science students : intervention approaches for underachievers. Restall, Leonard J. secondary school intervention science education attributional motivation individuality Relationships between underachievement, individual type and attributional motivation were investigated among 37 underachieving senior science students from a boys' college, a girls' college and a coeducational college in New Zealand. An adaptation of the Myers-Briggs type inventory was used to identify individual type, and attributional motivation was determined by using two questionnaires, based upon attributional constructs established by Weiner (1979). Students in the sample were also interviewed. Results show a significant difference, too great to be attributed to a sampling fluctuation, between the observed number of students and the greater than expected number of students, particularly for the ESFJ (Extrovert-Sensing- Feeling-Judging) and ISFJ (Introvert-Sensing-Feeling-Judging) individual 'types' within the sample of underachieving students. A difference also was found between the observed number of Function Pairs, derived from the Myers-Briggs descriptions, and the expected number of Pairs within the sample. These differences were also too great to be attributed to a sampling fluctuation.A general lack of motivation was found among the students, with 'lack of effort' being attributed as a major cause of underachievement. Differences in attribution trends were found between different 'types'. Most of the students indicated that they were passive learners and generally were unaware of how to use metacognitive strategies to improve their learning and motivation.Implications from this research suggest that intervention approaches should be made by educators to improve accountability and reduce underachievement by students. Recommendations for various approaches used by the author, and by others described in the thesis to reduce or overcome underachievement are suggested. These might be used for individual types who are prone to underachieve, and for underachievers generally. 1998 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/534 en Curtin University fulltext
spellingShingle secondary school
intervention
science education
attributional motivation
individuality
Restall, Leonard J.
The relationship between individual type, underachievement and the attributional motivation of secondary school science students : intervention approaches for underachievers.
title The relationship between individual type, underachievement and the attributional motivation of secondary school science students : intervention approaches for underachievers.
title_full The relationship between individual type, underachievement and the attributional motivation of secondary school science students : intervention approaches for underachievers.
title_fullStr The relationship between individual type, underachievement and the attributional motivation of secondary school science students : intervention approaches for underachievers.
title_full_unstemmed The relationship between individual type, underachievement and the attributional motivation of secondary school science students : intervention approaches for underachievers.
title_short The relationship between individual type, underachievement and the attributional motivation of secondary school science students : intervention approaches for underachievers.
title_sort relationship between individual type, underachievement and the attributional motivation of secondary school science students : intervention approaches for underachievers.
topic secondary school
intervention
science education
attributional motivation
individuality
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/534