TY - JOUR A1 - Kwarikunda, Diana A1 - Schiefele, Ulrich A1 - Ssenyonga, Joseph A1 - Muwonge, Charles Magoba T1 - The Relationship between Motivation for, and Interest in, Learning Physics among Lower Secondary School Students in Uganda JF - African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education N2 - Motivation and interest affect students' learning especially in Physics, a subject learners perceive as abstract. The present study was guided by three objectives: (a) to adapt and validate the Science Motivation Questionnaire (SMQ-II) for the Ugandan context; (b) to examine whether there are significant differences in motivation for learning Physics with respect to students' gender; and (c) to establish the extent to which students' interest predicts their motivation to learn Physics. The sample comprised 374 randomly selected students from five schools in central Uganda who responded to anonymous questionnaires that included scales from the SMQ-II and the Individual Interest Questionnaire. Data were analysed using confirmatory factor analyses, t-tests and structural equation modelling in SPSS-25 and Mplus-8. The five-factor model solution of the SMQ-II fitted adequately with the present data, with deletion of one item. The modified SMQ-II exhibited invariant factor loadings and intercepts (i.e. strong measurement invariance) when administered to boys and girls. Furthermore, motivation for learning Physics did not vary with gender. Students' interest was related to motivation for learning Physics. Lastly, although students' interest significantly predicted all motivational constructs, we noted considerable predictive strength of interest on students' self-efficacy and self-determination in learning Physics. Implications of these findings for the teaching and learning of Physics at lower secondary school are discussed in the paper. KW - Confirmatory factor analyses KW - interest in learning physics KW - lower KW - secondary school KW - measurement invariance KW - science motivation KW - questionnaire Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-605353 SN - 1811-7295 SN - 2469-7656 VL - 24 IS - 3 SP - 435 EP - 446 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kwarikunda, Diana A1 - Schiefele, Ulrich A1 - Ssenyonga, Joseph A1 - Muwonge, Charles Magoba T1 - Secondary school students’ motivation profiles for physics learning BT - Relations with cognitive learning strategies, gender, attitudes and individual interest JF - African journal of research in mathematics, science and technology education : official journal of the Southern African Association for Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education N2 - For efficient and effective pedagogical interventions to address Uganda's alarmingly poor performance in Physics, it is vital to understand students' motivation patterns for Physics learning. Latent profile analysis (LPA)-a person-centred approach-can be used to investigate these motivation patterns. Using a three-step approach to LPA, we sought to answer the following research questions: RQ1, which profiles of secondary school students exist with regards to their motivation for Physics learning; RQ2, are there differences in students' cognitive learning strategies in the identified profiles; and RQ3, does students' gender, attitudes, and individual interest predict membership in these profiles? The sample comprised 934 Grade 9 students from eight secondary schools in Uganda. Data were collected using standardised questionnaires. Six motivational profiles were identified: (i) low-quantity motivation profile (101 students; 10.8%); (ii) moderate-quantity motivation profile (246 students; 26.3%); (iii) high-quantity motivation profile (365 students; 39.1%); (iv) primarily intrinsically motivated profile (60 students, 6.4%); (v) mostly extrinsically motivated profile (88 students, 9.4%); and (vi) grade-introjected profile (74 students, 7.9%). Low-quantity and grade-introjected motivated students mostly used surface learning strategies whilst the high-quantity and primarily intrinsically motivated students used deep learning strategies. Lastly, unlike gender, individual interest and students' attitudes towards Physics learning predicted profile membership. Teachers should provide an interesting autonomous Physics classroom climate and give students clear instructions in self-reliant behaviours that promote intrinsic motivation. KW - Motivation profiles KW - physics learning KW - latent profile analysis Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/18117295.2021.1956720 SN - 1028-8457 VL - 25 IS - 2 SP - 197 EP - 210 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ekatushabe, Margaret A1 - Kwarikunda, Diana A1 - Muwonge, Charles Magoba A1 - Ssenyonga, Joseph A1 - Schiefele, Ulrich T1 - Relations between perceived teacher’s autonomy support, cognitive appraisals and boredom in physics learning among lower secondary school students JF - International journal of STEM education N2 - Background Boredom during learning activities has the potential of impeding attention, motivation, learning and eventually achievement. Yet, research focusing on its possible antecedents seems to have received less attention especially within the physics domain. Based on assumptions of the Control Value Theory of Achievement Emotions (CVTAE), this study aimed at examining gender differences and structural relationships between students' reported perceived teacher autonomy support (PTAS), cognitive appraisals (self-efficacy and task value) and learning-related boredom in physics. A sample of 375 (56% females) randomly selected 9(th) grade students (mean age = 15.03 years; SD = 1.02) from five secondary schools in Masaka district of Uganda took part in the study. Results Data collected from students' self-reports using standardised instruments revealed that higher levels of PTAS, self-efficacy, and task value were significantly associated with lower levels of boredom during physics learning. Females reported significantly greater task value for learning physics than the males. Self-efficacy (beta = - .10, p < .05) and task value (beta = - .09, p < .01) partially mediated the relationship between PTAS and boredom. PTAS showed significant direct negative contributions to boredom (beta = - .34, p < .001). Conclusion These findings provide support for theory and practice about the importance of promoting autonomy among students by adjusting instructional behaviours among teachers of physics. Teacher autonomy supportive behaviours influence formation of students' beliefs about ability, subjective value and learning-related boredom in physics. Implications and suggestions for further research are also discussed in this paper. KW - Teacher autonomy support KW - Cognitive appraisals KW - Self-efficacy KW - Task KW - value KW - Boredom KW - Gender KW - Physics Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-021-00272-5 SN - 2196-7822 VL - 8 IS - 1 PB - SpringerOpen CY - Berlin ; Heidelberg [u.a.] ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kwarikunda, Diana A1 - Schiefele, Ulrich A1 - Muwonge, Charles Magoba A1 - Ssenyonga, Joseph T1 - Profiles of learners based on their cognitive and metacognitive learning strategy use: occurrence and relations with gender, intrinsic motivation, and perceived autonomy support JF - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications N2 - For life-long learning, an effective learning strategy repertoire is particularly important during acquisition of knowledge in lower secondary school—an educational level characterized with transition into more autonomous learning environments with increased complex academic demands. Using latent profile analysis, we explored the occurrence of different secondary school learner profiles depending on their various combinations of cognitive and metacognitive learning strategy use, as well as their differences in perceived autonomy support, intrinsic motivation, and gender. Data were collected from 576 ninth grade students in Uganda using self-report questionnaires. Four learner profiles were identified: competent strategy user, struggling user, surface-level learner, and deep-level learner profiles. Gender differences were noted in students’ use of elaboration and organization strategies to learn Physics, in favor of girls. In terms of profile memberships, significant differences in gender, intrinsic motivation and perceived autonomy support were also noted. Girls were 2.4–2.7 times more likely than boys to be members of the competent strategy user and surface-level learner profiles. Additionally, higher levels of intrinsic motivation predicted an increased likelihood membership into the deep-level learner profile, while higher levels of perceived teacher autonomy predicted an increased likelihood membership into the competent strategy user profile as compared to other profiles. Further, implications of the findings were discussed. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01322-1 SN - 2055-1045 VL - 9 PB - Springer Nature ER -