MOTIVATION STUDENTS OF CHEMISTRY FOR THE STUDY OF CHEMICAL TEACHING CONTENT
Abstract
The paper starts from the fact that motivation is an important prerequisite for successful learning. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the motivation of university students to learn chemistry as well as to explore the differences in the motivation of students of different study years and programs. The motivation for learning chemistry concepts was measured using the Serbian version of the Student’s Motivation Toward Science Learning (SMTSL), which consists of five subscales: self-efficacy, active learning strategies, science learning value, performance goal and achievement goal orientation. The sample included 185 students of the first and fourth year (ages 19-25) of Chemistry at the Faculty of Science and Mathematics, University of Novi Sad (Serbia). The obtained results showed that chemistry students are generally motivated to study chemistry concepts. Students have mostly shown achievement goal orientation, respect for the importance of chemistry as a science and utilization of active learning strategies. At least students have demonstrated performance goal motivational orientation. Students in the final years have shown greater motivation for learning compared to students of the first year, and the differences primarily were related to their sense of self-efficacy. Contrary, active learning strategies are increasingly applied by students of the first year. Differences in motivation among students from different study groups were not significant except in the application of active learning strategies. The obtained results indicate the general motivation of chemistry students to study chemistry concepts that increases over time during the years of study. Implications of the findings are being discussed in the paper.
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