Gender, previous knowledge, personality traits and subject-specific motivation as predictors of students’ math grade in upper-secondary school

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cirila Peklaj ◽  
Anja Podlesek ◽  
Sonja Pečjak
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Previous Knowledge ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Subject Specific

scholarly journals Striving for Success but at What Cost? Subject-Specific Achievement Goal Orientation Profiles, Perceived Cost, and Academic Well-Being

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heta Tuominen ◽  
Henriikka Juntunen ◽  
Markku Niemivirta
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Goal Orientation ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Achievement Goal ◽  
Achievement Goal Orientation ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
School Students ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Subject Specific

Most studies utilizing a person-oriented approach to investigating students’ achievement goal orientation profiles have been domain-general or focused on a single domain (usually mathematics), thus excluding the possibility of identifying distinct subject-specific motivational profiles. In this study, we looked into this by examining upper secondary school students’ subject-specific achievement goal orientation profiles simultaneously in mathematics and English. As distinct profiles might contribute to how students invest time and effort in studying, we also examined differences in perceived subject-specific cost (i.e., effort required, emotional cost, opportunity cost) among students with different profiles, and how this was linked with students’ more general academic well-being (i.e., school engagement, burnout). The 434 Finnish general upper secondary school students participating in the study were classified based on their achievement goal orientations in the two subjects using latent profile analysis, and the predictions of the latent profile on distal outcomes (i.e., measures of cost and academic well-being) were examined within the mixture model. Five divergent achievement goal orientation profiles were identified: indifferent (29%), success-oriented (26%), mastery-oriented (25%), English-oriented, math-avoidant (14%), and avoidance-oriented (6%). The English-oriented, math-avoidant students showed the most distinct domain-specificity in their profile but, in general, profiles indicated more cross-domain generality than specificity. Overall, mastery-oriented students showed the most adaptive academic well-being, while avoidance-oriented students were the least engaged. Success-oriented students were characterised by high multiple goals in both subjects, elevated costs, and high scores on both positive (engagement) and negative (burnout) well-being indicators. The English-oriented, math-avoidant students perceived studying math as costly. The findings suggest that addressing students’ achievement motivation in different subjects may be useful for recognising factors endangering or fostering student learning and well-being.

scholarly journals Big Five Personality Traits as Predictors of Systems Thinking Ability of Upper Secondary School Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samsilah Roslan ◽  
Syaza Hasan ◽  
Zeinab Zaremohzzabieh ◽  
Nurazidawati Mohamad Arsad
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Big Five ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
System Thinking ◽  
Big Five Personality ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
School Students ◽  
Upper Secondary

Developing system thinking skills among secondary school students has been set as an educational goal for years. The emerging properties of a system have recently been influenced by the characteristics of each student. Thus, this study examines the Big Five personality traits as predictors of Malaysian school students‘ systems thinking. Quantitative data was obtained using a standardized questionnaire with established scales (the Goldberg’ International Personality Item Pool and the Systems Thinking Scale) from 196 upper secondary school students. The results indicate that personality traits affect secondary students‘ system thinking, and almost thirty percent of the variation in the Malaysian system thinking skill can be elucidated by its sub-domains. Although agreeableness has superior impacts on systems thinking, extraversion seems to have less importance on their systems thinking. The results also reveal the negative association between extraversion and neuroticism and systems thinking. We conclude that certain personality traits can improve systems thinking and promote students’ ability to solve complex problems. The implications of these findings for the enhancement of systems thinking among school students are discussed.

scholarly journals Being Able to Stay or Learning to Stay: a Study of Rural Boys’ Educational Orientations and Transitions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna-Maria Stenseth ◽  
Unn-Doris K. Bæck
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Education ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Upper Secondary Education ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Educational Orientations

AbstractThis study explores the influence of geographical location on young pupils’ educational orientations and their transition from lower to upper secondary school; it pays particular attention to the voices of male youths from a rural area. More specifically, it investigates the interplay between gender and geographical contexts and the significance of these factors in understanding the processes associated with educational orientations. Margaret Archer’s framework is used to analyse how pupils’ agency is constrained and/or enabled by objective structures. The data material consists of qualitative interviews with 18 pupils transitioning from lower to upper secondary school in Norway. Each of the pupils was interviewed twice: first when they were in their last year of lower secondary education, and then during their first year of upper secondary education. The findings show that pupils consider geographical locations when making decisions about further education and work. In addition, they believe that education beyond compulsory schooling benefits their life in the rural areas. However, unlike their urban counterparts, pupils from rural areas appear to have a more constraining transition to upper secondary education. Through the analyses in this article, it becomes clear that both geographical location and gender are key factors for understanding processes connected to education.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document