Abstract
Student motivation is widely regarded as an essential prerequisite for learning and success. To learn more about biology student motivation and how it changes over time, pre/post-surveys were administered to a large introductory biology course during the fall of 2015. These pre/post-surveys contained motivation subscales from the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Although students began the course with high levels of motivation, the pre/post-survey scores revealed that their intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, and value scores declined during the semester. The value/usefulness (IMI), pressure/tension (IMI), and test anxiety (MSLQ) pre-survey scores were the best predictors of course performance. The implications of these findings and suggestions for improving student motivation are discussed.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 20-26 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | American Biology Teacher |
| Volume | 81 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2019 |
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Keywords
- anxiety
- biology student
- IMI
- Motivation
- MSLQ
- value
Cite this
Measuring Student Motivation in an Introductory Biology Class. / Gibbens, Brian.
In: American Biology Teacher, Vol. 81, No. 1, 01.01.2019, p. 20-26.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Measuring Student Motivation in an Introductory Biology Class
AU - Gibbens, Brian
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - Student motivation is widely regarded as an essential prerequisite for learning and success. To learn more about biology student motivation and how it changes over time, pre/post-surveys were administered to a large introductory biology course during the fall of 2015. These pre/post-surveys contained motivation subscales from the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Although students began the course with high levels of motivation, the pre/post-survey scores revealed that their intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, and value scores declined during the semester. The value/usefulness (IMI), pressure/tension (IMI), and test anxiety (MSLQ) pre-survey scores were the best predictors of course performance. The implications of these findings and suggestions for improving student motivation are discussed.
AB - Student motivation is widely regarded as an essential prerequisite for learning and success. To learn more about biology student motivation and how it changes over time, pre/post-surveys were administered to a large introductory biology course during the fall of 2015. These pre/post-surveys contained motivation subscales from the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Although students began the course with high levels of motivation, the pre/post-survey scores revealed that their intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, and value scores declined during the semester. The value/usefulness (IMI), pressure/tension (IMI), and test anxiety (MSLQ) pre-survey scores were the best predictors of course performance. The implications of these findings and suggestions for improving student motivation are discussed.
KW - anxiety
KW - biology student
KW - IMI
KW - Motivation
KW - MSLQ
KW - value
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85061447188&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1525/abt.2019.81.1.20
DO - 10.1525/abt.2019.81.1.20
M3 - Article
VL - 81
SP - 20
EP - 26
JO - American Biology Teacher
JF - American Biology Teacher
SN - 0002-7685
IS - 1
ER -