Motivation and strategy use in science: Individual differences and classroom effects

Abstract

This study examines individual and classroom‐level differences in motivation and strategy usage in sixth‐ and seventh‐grade middle school science. Results suggest that students who experience academic difficulties differ from both high achieving and special education students on measures of self‐efficacy, goal orientation, expectancy, value, and self‐concept of ability in science, with students who experience academic difficulties occasionally demonstrating less adaptive patterns of motivation and cognition than special education students in science. We used hierarchical linear modeling to examine between‐classroom differences in learning‐focused goal orientation. Findings indicate that students who have science teachers that use ability‐focused instructional practices (e.g., pointing out the best students as an example to others) are less learning focused, and exhibit a diminished relation between self‐concept of ability and being learning focused in science. Implications for science education reform are discussed.