Students’ Views on Social-Contextual Features of Inquiry Supporting Motivation in Middle Grades Science

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 11:45 am - Gold 4
  In Roundtable Session: Relational Pedagogy and Belonging: Navigating the Social Dimensions of Student Motivation and Learning

Abstract

Limited research directly addresses discipline-specificity and situativity of motivational processes. This mixed-methods study aimed to characterize students’ perceptions of the features within inquiry curricular contexts which inform their motivation. Data sources included semi-structured interviews (n = 43) and open-ended survey responses (n = 251) from students in 7th grade science classrooms. Participants’ teachers enacted inquiry and participated in professional development focused on NGSS-aligned teaching. Results indicated 27 themes across both data sources, with the most frequently occurring across both data sources coming from four overarching categories: Disciplinary Practices, Relevance, Interest, and Motivational Norms. Findings have implications for extending the study of motivation to be inclusive of social and collaborative structures, with the potential to enrich our primarily individually-oriented theoretical frameworks.

Authors

• Karlyn R. Adams-Wiggins, Portland State University

• Toni Kempler Rogat, Purdue University

• Jiaying Wang, Purdue University