ERIC Number: EJ1166275
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Feb
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-4308
EISSN: N/A
Gender, Complexity, and Science for All: Systemizing and Its Impact on Motivation to Learn Science for Different Science Subjects
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, v55 n2 p147-171 Feb 2018
The present study is based on a large cross-cultural study, which showed that a systemizing cognition type has a high impact on motivation to learn science, while the impact of gender is only indirect thorough systemizing. The present study uses the same structural equation model as in the cross-cultural study and separately tests it for physics, chemistry, and biology. The model was confirmed for physics and chemistry, but not for biology. This is interpreted as empirical evidence for a cognitive difference between the learning of hard sciences (like physics and chemistry) and life sciences (like biology) that reflects an epistemological difference between ordered (linear) and complex (non-linear) systems. It is concluded that a more prominent inclusion of complex issues into science teaching could motivate low and average systemizers, independent of their gender, for science learning, that is, could be a key to science for all. Thus, there is a mutual benefit between important 21st century's issues of science teaching and the need to foster students' motivation to learn science.
Descriptors: Learning Motivation, Gender Differences, Difficulty Level, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Structural Equation Models, Cognitive Processes, Epistemology, Science Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A