[Paper Review] Attitude and Motivation towards Learning Physics

Ryan Manuel D. Guido|arXiv (Cornell University)|May 6, 2018

Science Education and Pedagogy1 references104 citations

TL;DR

The study of 446 engineering and technology students finds no significant difference between attitude and motivation towards learning physics and only a negligible relationship between them, suggesting instructor influence matters.

ABSTRACT

Physics is considered as one of the most prevailing and problematic subjects by the students in the realm of science. Students perceived physics as a difficult subject during high school days and become more evasive when they reach college. Based on an investigation of 446 engineering and technology students, this study analyses and evaluates the relationship between attitude and motivation of engineering and technology students towards learning physics. It shows that there is no significant difference in the attitude and motivation of students towards learning physics. Furthermore, there is a negligible degree of relationship for attitude and motivation. The relationship between attitude and motivation is due to chance. This confides that most students found that is unlikely for them to enjoy learning physics because of their professor. Faculty should encourage students in drilling physics problems, students are found to like answering difficult physics questions in ever examination, expresses that they have a mathematical mind.

Motivation & Objective

• Investigate the attitude of engineering and technology students toward learning physics.
• Investigate the motivation of engineering and technology students toward learning physics.
• Assess whether attitude and motivation differ across the sample.
• Examine the strength of the relationship between attitude and motivation toward learning physics.

Proposed method

• Survey-based analysis of 446 engineering and technology students.
• Quantitative assessment of attitude and motivation toward learning physics.
• Statistical tests to compare groups and to assess correlation between attitude and motivation.
• Interpretation of results with consideration of instructor influence on learning physics.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 Is there a significant difference in attitudes toward learning physics among engineering and technology students?
• RQ2 Is there a significant difference in motivation toward learning physics among engineering and technology students?
• RQ3 What is the strength of the relationship between attitude and motivation toward learning physics?

Key findings

• There is no significant difference in attitude toward learning physics among the students.
• There is no significant difference in motivation toward learning physics among the students.
• There is a negligible degree of relationship between attitude and motivation toward learning physics.
• The relationship between attitude and motivation is due to chance.
• Students are unlikely to enjoy learning physics because of their professor.
• Faculty should encourage students to drill physics problems; students express they have a mathematical mind and like challenging questions.