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Educational Models and Differences between Groups of 16-year-old Students in Gender, Motivation, and Achievements in Chemistry

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Learning with Understanding in the Chemistry Classroom

Abstract

The previous chapter is somehow continued to this chapter entitled “Educational models and differences between groups of 16-year-old students in gender, motivation and achievements in chemistry” by Devetak and Glažar who described other aspects of students’ characteristics using statistical analysis of numerous variables regarding triple nature of chemical concepts presentations. Students can be differentiated into groups during classroom activities also according to their abilities, academic achievements, and interests. On the basis of these classifications students can be engaged in specific learning tasks. Different models can be formed according to students’ academic achievements, motivation for a specific subject, gender, and also other variables that can influence classroom dynamics. Three predictive educational models developed by discriminant analysis are presented. This rather complicated statistical analysis can show that teachers should be aware that girls need more attention in chemistry learning than boys. Teachers should extrinsically motivate using macroscopic level of chemical concepts and put those concepts into the context for those students who are low achievers in physics and have low intrinsic motivation for learning chemistry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, Kardeljeva pl. 16, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Iztok Devetak & Saša A. Glažar

Authors
  1. Iztok Devetak
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  2. Saša A. Glažar
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Correspondence to Iztok Devetak .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Iztok Devetak

  2. University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Saša Aleksij Glažar

Appendices

Appendix 1: Sample Items from the Diagnostic Instrument for Determining Chemical Knowledge (CK)

Appendix 2: Sample Items from the Questionnaire Intrinsic Motivation for Learning Science (IMLS)

1. Emotional component of intrinsic motivation:

I enjoy learning.

I am often bored during the:

… chemistry course.

… biology course.

… physics course.

… foreign language course.

… mathematics course.

I enjoy the chemistry course when:

… we observe chemical changes in experiments.

… we learn about particles (atoms, ions, and molecules).

… we learn and write chemical symbols, formulae, and equations.

2. Cognitive component of intrinsic motivation:

I often look for additional information about school science topics in books, magazines, on the Internet, CDs …

The media attract my attention when reporting on:

…chemistry topics.

…biology topics.

…physics topics.

…foreign language topics.

…mathematics topics.

I often think about:

…observation of chemical changes in experiments, also out of school.

… particles (atoms, ions, molecules), also out of school.

…learning and writing chemical symbols, formulae and equations, also out of school.

3. Challenge component of intrinsic motivation:

I persevere with learning.

New problems in:

… chemistry, challenge me.

… biology, challenge me.

… physics, challenge me.

… foreign language, challenge me.

… mathematics, challenge me.

If I do not understand something, connected with:

… observation of chemical changes in experiments, I give up.

… learning about particles (atoms, ions, and molecules), I give up.

… learning and writing chemical symbols, formulae, and equations, I give up.

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Devetak, I., Glažar, S.A. (2014). Educational Models and Differences between Groups of 16-year-old Students in Gender, Motivation, and Achievements in Chemistry. In: Devetak, I., Glažar, S. (eds) Learning with Understanding in the Chemistry Classroom. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4366-3_6

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