Perceived Irrelevance and Achievement Goals: Two Mindset Variables within Attitudinal Experiences of Life Science Majors in Introductory Physics

Autor/in	Mason, Andrew J.
Titel	Perceived Irrelevance and Achievement Goals: Two Mindset Variables within Attitudinal Experiences of Life Science Majors in Introductory Physics
Quelle	In: Physical Review Physics Education Research, 17 (2021) 2, Artikel 020124 (12 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2469-9896
Schlagwörter	Majors (Students); Physics; Science Instruction; Introductory Courses; Goal Orientation; Problem Solving; Student Attitudes; Followup Studies; Relevance (Education); Attitude Change; Science Achievement; Grade Point Average; Pretests Posttests; Novices; Undergraduate Students; Classroom Environment; Science Tests; Classroom Assessment Scoring System; Force Concept Inventory + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Physik; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Einführungskurs; Zielorientierung; Zielvorstellung; Problemlösen; Schülerverhalten; Follow-up studies; Kontaktstudium; Relevance; Relevanz; Attitudinal change; Einstellungsänderung; Klassenklima; Unterrichtsklima
Abstract	This paper is a follow-up to a previous study, in which students (predominately life science majors) were found to self-express achievement goals with regard to a pre-lab problem-solving exercise in an algebra-based introductory physics course. In this paper, the same sampled population was also asked in the same feedback survey to discuss what portion or portions of the course were relevant to their respective choices of major; in responding, students expressed another aspect of mindset, namely, perceived relevance of the course to their majors. We primarily investigate the difference between 50 students who perceived no relevance of introductory physics to their major and 168 students who perceived some form of relevance. The primary finding was that students who perceive relevance will experience more expert-like shifts than students who do not. In particular, the attitudinal survey's item clusters that pertain to personal interest and real-world connections appear to show the strongest effect. Further examination showed that biology majors and health science majors (two distinctive subpopulations of life science majors) show similar pre-post trends for relevance vs irrelevance perceptions, whereas students with a performance achievement goal appeared to bifurcate between a novice-like shift for perceived irrelevance and no attitudinal shift from pre to post for perceived relevance. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01