The impact of motivation towards science learning, gender, and academic background in secondary education, on the asking of research questions
Keywords:
Secondary school, Science education, Asking of research questions, Motivation towards science learningAbstract
Scientific inquiry competencies are fundamental to the scientific literacy of citizens. One of these competencies, the asking of research questions, is the starting point of scientific inquiry processes. For this reason, the objectives of this study focused on the evaluation of the research question asking ability of secondary school students and on the analysis of the influence of gender, grade level and motivation towards science learning on this ability. A total of 167 students of Spanish secondary education (8th, 9th and 10th grade, between 13 and 16 years old) participated. Two instruments, one to determine their ability to ask research questions, and the other to measure their motivation to learn science, were administered to participants. From an analysis of the correlations between variables and a regression analysis, it can be concluded that: a) the students' ability to ask research questions is low; and b) only the grade level of the students has a significant influence on this ability.
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