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Students’ transition from elementary to high school and changes of the relationship between motivation and academic performance

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Abstract

336 students, 186 girls and 150 boys were met at the end of the school year, both at grade six and at Secondary one, in order to examine the impact of the transition from elementary to secondary school on various motivational variables. Analyses showed changes in self-efficacy beliefs and learning goals, whatever students’ level of achievement and gender. However, self-efficacy beliefs appeared as the most powerful predictor of academic performance at both school levels. In addition, the pattern of relations between academic performance and the variables examined was relatively similar at both times of measurement. The discussion focuses on changes in self-efficacy beliefs and learning goals and on their relations to academic performance.

Résumé

336 élèves, 186 filles et 150 garçons, ont été rencontrés une première fois en sixième année du primaire et une seconde fois vers la même période l’année suivante, en première année du secondaire afin d’examiner l’impact du passage au secondaire sur leur motivation. Les analyses montrent que peu importe leur niveau de rendement antérieur et leur sexe, tous les élèves présentent des modifications de leur sentiment d’auto-efficacité et des buts d’apprentissage qu’ils poursuivent suite à leur passage au secondaire. Cependant, aux deux temps de mesure, le sentiment d’auto-efficacité relatif à la matière est la variable qui contribue le plus à la variance totale observée dans le rendement dans la matière, et le patron des relations entre les variables et le rendement scolaire diffère peu. La discussion met l’accent sur les changements observés dans le sentiment d’auto-efficacité et les buts d’apprentissage et sur leurs rapports avec le rendement scolaire.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, succursale center-ville, C.P. 8888, H3C 3P8, Montréal, Qc., Canada

    Thérèse Bouffard, Lucille Boileau & Carole Vezeau

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  1. Thérèse Bouffard
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  2. Lucille Boileau
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  3. Carole Vezeau
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Correspondence to Thérèse Bouffard.

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Data Collection and preparation of this article were supported by grants to the first author from The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (government of Canada) and the Fonds FCAR (government of Quebec).

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Bouffard, T., Boileau, L. & Vezeau, C. Students’ transition from elementary to high school and changes of the relationship between motivation and academic performance. Eur J Psychol Educ 16, 589–604 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173199

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