Towards the improvement of students’ motivation in learning

physics

M-r Marina Poposka

• Low popularity of physics in the schools

• Some teaching methods and strategies influence the motivation in learning physics

• How to differentiate teaching methods and strategies in teaching physics process, according to varying motivational factors and different needs

Motivation for science learning in general decreases between students

• To contribute with some content of indicators point on students’ motivation for learning physics and to point out on some ways for improving it

Motivational factors and ways to motivate students in teaching physics

• Definition of motivationMotivation as force that energizes, directs and sustains

behaviour toward a goal.• Motivational factorsIntrinsic and extrinsic• Lack of students’ motivation in learning physicsNegative self-perception and poor relationship between

student and teacher• (Lepper, 1998) How to motivate students in learning

physics4 Cs: Control, Challenge, Curiosity and Contextualization

Classroom motivation in learning physics

• The students should be engaged

To feel personally involved

• Internal factors (related to the students themselves) and external factors (related to the environment)

• The teacher should put a positive spin on every comment

• Material should be on the right level

• Getting the subject matter right

We should make the material related to the real world

• The material we give cannot be too easy and it can't be too difficult

• Students should feel involved in the classroom• Giving students choices- suggest students to choose partners in the groups- offer alternative assignments or homework- allow students to suggest their own alternatives to

the assignment or homework

Six ways to motivate students to learn

“Scientific research has provided us with a number of ways to get the learning juices flowing, none of which involve paying money for good grades. And most smart teachers know this, even without scientific proof “ - Annie Murphy Paul.

1. Fine-tune the challenge.2. Start with the question, not the answer. 3. Encourage students to beat their personal best. 4. Connect abstract learning to concrete situations. 5. Make it social. 6. Go deep.

Cooperative Learning and students’ motivation

1. Definition• A method to increase student motivation• Motivational strategy-work in groups Forsyth and McMillan (1994) and Wlodkowski noting that

successful intrinsic motivation develops attitude,establishes inclusion, engenders competence, andenhances meaning within diverse students.

2. Some benefits of Cooperative LearningDr. Theodore Panitz• Developing attitude• Developing students' social interaction skills• Engendering competence• Enhancing meaning

Other ways for improving students’ motivation in learning physics

• Emphasis significance of physics as a science

• Industry visits

• Industry sites visit

• Bringing experts in the classroom

• Visiting sites with experiments and simulations

Applications and evaluations

Survey (using questionnaire)2 months, different classes, 40 students participating,

different gender (25 female and 15 male), aged 15-18, students with higher ability and students with lower ability, taking different personality factors into consideration, different nationality: 33 Macedonians, 5 Bosniaks and 3 Roma students

My methods for collecting data:• Students’ motivational survey• Analysis of data• Synthesizing• Review of my personal observations

Results

1. “I found physics is difficult science to learn”.

1. I found physics is difficult science to

learn

25%

1

33%

2

23%

3

10%

4

9%

5

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

values

perc

enta

ge %

1-Strongly agree 2-Agree3-Undecided 4-Disagree5-Strongly disagree

Results

2. “When I am doing physics class work I feel..”.

3. “I think physics is interesting science, but I am not sure where to implement it”.

Strongly

agreeAgree Undecided Disagree

Strongly

disagree

a) involved 8 (20%) 10 (25%) / 3 (7,5%) 2 (5%)

b) bored 2 (5%) 2 (5%) 3 (7,5%) 2 (5%) 2 (5%)

c) confused 2 (5%) 2 (5%) 2 (5%) / /

Results4. “Work in groups helps me to better understand the content we learn”

28%

1

32%

2 15%3

10%4

15%5

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

perc

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ge %

values

4. Work in groups helps me to better understand the content we learn

1-Strongly agree

2-Agree

3-Undecided

4-Strongly disagree

5-Disagree

Results5. “I think work in pairs on classes is interesting”

6. “Experimenting in physics helps me to better understand the natural phenomena”

1-Strongly agree-18%

2-Agree-25%

3-Undecided-18%

4-Disagree- 21%

5-Strongly disagree-18%

6. Experimenting in physics help me to better understand natural phenomena

Results7. “Computer simulations help me in learning

physics”.

1 2 3 4 5

values 22% 35% 15% 18% 10%

Strongly agree

Agree

Undecided Disagree

Strongly disagree

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

pe

rce

nta

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%

7. Computer simulations help me in learning physics

Results8. “During our group visit in hospital, I learned

more about the medical instruments”.

1 2 3 4 5

values 28% 34% 18% 15% 5%

Strongly agree

Agree

Undecided Disagree

Strongly disagree

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

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nta

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%

8. During our group visit in hospital, I learned more about the medical instuments

Results9. “I found interesting the assignment teacher gave us as

homework to collect data about the temperature and humidity of the air”

10. “I found interesting the assignment teacher gave us as homework to do internet research about elementary particles”.

1-Strongly agree-28%

2-Agree-23%

3-Undecided-16%

4-Disagree- 18%

5-Strongly disagree-15%

10. I found interesting the assignment teacher gave us as homework to do internet research about elementary paricles

Discussion

• Summary of findings- Teacher should be careful what kind of approach has in the content when

lecturing- Implementing Cooperative Learning- Real or virtual experimenting in learning physics is never surplus- Students see visiting institutions or companies as an adventure- Students as researchers• Obstacles in the study- Different specific psychological state in particular moment- Limited number of students and limited time of research• Recommendations for further research- Detailed research is needed - different motivational factors separately• Conclusions- Students’ motivation is dynamic- Teacher can create conditions that encourage engagement of students for

learning physics- Teacher can stimulate and sustain students’ motivation in learning physics