The Motivation of Students Towards Science Learning
Annette Williams
ECE660: Action Research and Inquiry in Education
INTRODUCTION
The future professional role would be an early childhood educator to teach both Science and English. This would educate students through lectures and hand-on learning with adherence to the curriculum. The setting would be the classroom whereby it would ensure that there is a happy environment for all students. It would be good to act as a role model and a mentor by encouraging students to learn and ensuring that they do not face challenges such as depression or discrimination which would inhibit their learning. This would ensure that interacting with students more often and learn about their families. Maintaining good relationships with their families and having frequent communication would be a good way to understand any challenges the students could be facing. The current experience is helping kindergarten students learn social studies while the previous experience in helping students complete their homework. The future goal is to help improve the performance of students in science. Comment by Juliet Krummick: perfect
The purpose of the study is to find various ways in which students could be motivated during the learning of science. The student outcomes that need influence are their knowledge and skills in science and their attitude towards learning the subject. Assessments have shown that some students lack sufficient knowledge in science. The performance of students in science is also an area of interest to be influenced because it also determines whether or not the students are engaged in learning. Students are expected to obtain a positive attitude toward science learning. They should achieve good grades to show that they understand the topics at hand.
The fact that many students lose interest in learning science as they progress to higher levels shows that they are not engaged enough during the initial years of science learning specifically in first grade. Decreased motivation leads to lower grades in science (Uhm et al, 2018). Teachers do not put much emphasis on the teaching of science because they dedicate most of their time to reading within the researcher’s school. Students, therefore, lose interest in learning science because they are not fully engaged in learning by their teachers.
Teachers should ensure that they motivate students to learn. The provision of autonomy support to students enhances their motivation in learning. Student-teacher relationships are important in optimizing student motivation. “Educators and parents value motivation in school for its own sake as well as for its long-term contribution to child’s learnings and esteem” (Skinner et al, 2013, 6). Motivated students show interest in learning, are enthusiastic, curious, involved and are likely to cope with setbacks and challenges. These students can stay in school for longer and learn more, therefore, they are more likely to perform well than the unmotivated students.
The target population is first-grade students. There are 20 students consisting of eight boys and twelve girls. The age range of students is 5-6 years old. The students come from diverse cultural backgrounds. Comment by Juliet Krummick: All numbers up to two words needs to be written out in APA formatting. Comment by Juliet Krummick: We need to be very specific here. How many of those students are 5 and how many are 6. What is the ratio of boy/girl? What type of cultural backgrounds are represented? What about you the researcher? Will you be part of the study? Then you need to state that there is one teacher, list your education and numbers of years in the field.