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http://dx.doi.org/10.21796/jse.2020.44.1.74

Measurement of Motivation to Learn Physics in Engineering College Students  

Mun, Kongju (Seoul National University)
Hwang, Yohan (Chungnam National University)
Ha, Minsu (Kangwon National University)
Publication Information
Journal of Science Education / v.44, no.1, 2020 , pp. 74-83 More about this Journal
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate motivation to learn physics in order to understand engineering college students' physics learning. Therefore, in this study, 374 engineering students at the university located in Seoul were studied using the Physics Motivation Questionnaire (PMQ), which was a Science Motivation Questionnaire II modified into the context of learning physics. The PMQ is composed of five factors: intrinsic motivation, career motivation, self-determination, self-efficacy, and grade motivation. It involves 25 Likert scale items. Through exploratory factor analysis, PMQ confirms that the five factors are structurally valid in measuring the motivation of engineering students to learn physics. In addition, item fit (MNSQ) was also confirmed using a Rasch model analysis. The results show that grade motivation has the highest mean with 4.2, followed by job motivation mean with 3.76. The mean of intrinsic motivation was 3.42, the self-efficacy was 3.38, and self-determination was 3.32. The results of this study confirm that the physics learning motivation of engineering college students is characterized showing high external motivation related to job and grade. Therefore, we should try to develop the teaching strategy to increase intrinsic motivation by developing mastery goal orientation of physics learning for engineering students.
Keywords
engineering education; physics achievement; motivation; engineering students; intrinsic motivation;
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