Given the shortfall in students studying science, promotion of motivation and engagement in science education is a priority. The current study applied the trans-contextual model to study the motivational predictors of participation in science learning activities in secondary-school students. In a three-wave prospective design, secondary-school students completed measures of perceived autonomy support, autonomous and controlled motivation, social-cognitive beliefs (attitudes, subjective norms, perceived control), intentions, and self-reported participation in out-of-school science learning activities. Five-weeks later, students self-reported their science learning activities. Students’ averaged science grades over the semester period were obtained. Bayesian path analyses supported model hypotheses: in-school autonomous motivation predicted out-of-school autonomous motivation, beliefs, intentions, science activity participation, and science grades. Specifying informative priors in the Bayesian analysis yielded greater precision in estimates. Findings provide initial evidence of a link between students’ autonomous motivation toward science activities across contexts and may inform interventions promoting motivation and participation in science activities.
Applying the Trans‐Contextual Model to Promote Sport Injury Prevention Behaviours among Secondary School Students
