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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.
Despite the fact that grade retention is now seen as controversial in many quarters, it remains common practice in numerous countries. Previous research on the effects of grade retention on student development has, however, generated ambiguous results, particularly in terms of motivational outcomes. This ambiguity has been attributed in part to a lack of high-quality studies including a longitudinal design, a suitable comparison group, and adequate statistical control of preretention differences. Based on longitudinal data of N = 3,288 German students over 3 years of secondary school, we examined differences in their academic self-concept, scholarly interests, learning motivation, and achievement motivation between those being retained in the 6th grade (n = 61) and those of the same age being promoted annually. To account for confounding variables, we applied full propensity score matching on baseline measures of the dependent variables, as well as various other covariates that have been found to be associated with the risk of retention (e.g., cognitive ability, academic performance, and family background variables). Results reveal a steep decline in students’ academic self-concept, interests, and learning motivation during the last months spent in the original class, just before retention. For those measures that were available, negative effects were still partly significant after 1 year, but had diminished 2 years after grade retention. Contrary to predictions suggested by the big-fish-little-pond effect, we found no positive effects of retention on students’ academic self-concept.