Disciplinary Learning Motivation and Its External Influencing Factors: Taking Physics in a “Selection Crisis” as an example

Triggered by the pilot of the “Gao-Kao” reform, the avoidance of physics courses in senior high school has aroused the concern of society in China. The factors that influence the motivation to learn physics are an important research topic, especially for countries that have a disciplinary-based education tradition in secondary school. However, there is a lack of instruments for evaluating secondary school students’ physics learning motivation, as most motivational studies consider science learning motivation as a single construct and do not distinguish between the motivation to learn different science disciplines. Therefore, we developed an instrument for measuring physics learning motivation and used this instrument to investigate the trend of physics learning motivation from middle school to high school and how physics learning motivation was influenced by teachers, parents and peers. Adopting achievement goal theory as the theoretical foundation, we developed a survey for physics learning motivation by adapting previously validated instruments. After pilot testing, 502 middle school and senior high school students completed the survey. Statistical tests, such as factor analysis, were conducted to test the reliability and validity of the instrument. Descriptive statistics confirmed some of the findings from past research (such as an overall decline in motivation to learn science), but more detailed analysis also led to new findings. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) we investigated the relationships between students’ perceptions of the environment’s goal emphases, their personal goal orientations, and their engagement in physics learning in and out of school. The results showed that the students’ goal orientations were influenced by teachers and parents, but primarily by their peers. Finally, we discuss possible explanations of the findings and their implications for follow-up studies and policy adjustments.