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 - Hechenbichler, Michelle A1 - Laschewsky, Andre A1 - Gradzielski, Michael T1 - Poly(N,N-bis(2-methoxyethyl)acrylamide), a thermoresponsive non-ionic polymer combining the amide and the ethyleneglycolether motifs JF - Colloid and polymer science N2 - Poly(N,N-bis(2-methoxyethyl)acrylamide) (PbMOEAm) featuring two classical chemical motifs from non-ionic water-soluble polymers, namely, the amide and ethyleneglycolether moieties, was synthesized by reversible addition fragmentation transfer (RAFT) polymerization. This tertiary polyacrylamide is thermoresponsive exhibiting a lower critical solution temperature (LCST)-type phase transition. A series of homo- and block copolymers with varying molar masses but low dispersities and different end groups were prepared. Their thermoresponsive behavior in aqueous solution was analyzed via turbidimetry and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The cloud points (CP) increased with increasing molar masses, converging to 46 degrees C for 1 wt% solutions. This rise is attributed to the polymers' hydrophobic end groups incorporated via the RAFT agents. When a surfactant-like strongly hydrophobic end group was attached using a functional RAFT agent, CP was lowered to 42 degrees C, i.e., closer to human body temperature. Also, the effect of added salts, in particular, the role of the Hofmeister series, on the phase transition of PbMOEAm was investigated, exemplified for the kosmotropic fluoride, intermediate chloride, and chaotropic thiocyanate anions. A pronounced shift of the cloud point of about 10 degrees C to lower or higher temperatures was observed for 0.2 M fluoride and thiocyanate, respectively. When PbMOEAm was attached to a long hydrophilic block of poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) (PDMAm), the cloud points of these block copolymers were strongly shifted towards higher temperatures. While no phase transition was observed for PDMAm-b-pbMOEAm with short thermoresponsive blocks, block copolymers with about equally sized PbMOEAm and PDMAm blocks underwent the coil-to-globule transition around 60 degrees C. KW - polyacrylamide KW - water-soluble polymers KW - responsive systems KW - lower KW - critical solution temperature KW - polymer amphiphile Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-020-04701-9 SN - 0303-402X SN - 1435-1536 VL - 299 IS - 2 SP - 205 EP - 219 PB - Springer CY - Berlin; Heidelberg ER - TY - GEN A1 - Hechenbichler, Michelle A1 - Laschewsky, Andre A1 - Gradzielski, Michael T1 - Poly(N,N-bis(2-methoxyethyl)acrylamide), a thermoresponsive non-ionic polymer combining the amide and the ethyleneglycolether motifs T2 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Poly(N,N-bis(2-methoxyethyl)acrylamide) (PbMOEAm) featuring two classical chemical motifs from non-ionic water-soluble polymers, namely, the amide and ethyleneglycolether moieties, was synthesized by reversible addition fragmentation transfer (RAFT) polymerization. This tertiary polyacrylamide is thermoresponsive exhibiting a lower critical solution temperature (LCST)-type phase transition. A series of homo- and block copolymers with varying molar masses but low dispersities and different end groups were prepared. Their thermoresponsive behavior in aqueous solution was analyzed via turbidimetry and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The cloud points (CP) increased with increasing molar masses, converging to 46 degrees C for 1 wt% solutions. This rise is attributed to the polymers' hydrophobic end groups incorporated via the RAFT agents. When a surfactant-like strongly hydrophobic end group was attached using a functional RAFT agent, CP was lowered to 42 degrees C, i.e., closer to human body temperature. Also, the effect of added salts, in particular, the role of the Hofmeister series, on the phase transition of PbMOEAm was investigated, exemplified for the kosmotropic fluoride, intermediate chloride, and chaotropic thiocyanate anions. A pronounced shift of the cloud point of about 10 degrees C to lower or higher temperatures was observed for 0.2 M fluoride and thiocyanate, respectively. When PbMOEAm was attached to a long hydrophilic block of poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) (PDMAm), the cloud points of these block copolymers were strongly shifted towards higher temperatures. While no phase transition was observed for PDMAm-b-pbMOEAm with short thermoresponsive blocks, block copolymers with about equally sized PbMOEAm and PDMAm blocks underwent the coil-to-globule transition around 60 degrees C. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 1345 KW - polyacrylamide KW - water-soluble polymers KW - responsive systems KW - lower KW - critical solution temperature KW - polymer amphiphile Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-598378 SN - 0303-402X SN - 1435-1536 SN - 1866-8372 VL - 299 IS - 2 PB - Springer CY - Berlin; Heidelberg ER -