ADAPTATION OF THE STUDENTS' MOTIVATION TOWARDS SCIENCE LEARNING QUESTIONNAIRE TO MEASURE GREEK STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION TOWARDS BIOLOGY LEARNING

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate students' motivation towards biology learning and to determine the factors that are related to it: students' gender and their parents' occupation (relevant with biology or not) were investigated. The sample of the study consisted of 360 Greek high school students of the 10 th grade (178 boys and 182 girls). The data were collected through Students' Motivation Toward Science Learning (SMTSL) questionnaire. It was found that it was a valid and reliable tool for Greek students, with 6 sub-scales: self-efficacy, biology learning value, active learning strategies, performance goal, achievement goal and learning environment stimulation. The results of the data analysis revealed that Greek students have a moderate level of motivation towards biology learning and no statistically significant differences were found between the two genders. A significant difference between scores obtained from the 'performance goal' factor of the SMTBL, in favor of female students, was revealed. Moreover, it was found that students' parents' occupation does not have an effect on students' motivation. All sub factors of the SMTBL scale were correlated except 'biology learning value' with 'performance goal'.