An exploratory study of the motivation, strategy use and major choice of first-year students enrolled in introductory biology

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dc.contributor.advisorBarufaldi, James P.
dc.creatorLang, Sarah Adrienne
dc.date.accessioned2021-01-21T21:01:35Z
dc.date.available2021-01-21T21:01:35Z
dc.date.issued2004-12-18
dc.description.abstractUsing a mixed methods pretest-posttest design, this study explored first-year students’ 1) motivation and strategy use with regard to their introductory biology course; 2) their reasons for choosing and either keeping or leaving their major; 3) how they believed their first semester experiences informed their academic and professional plans; and 4) what they believed was most important in determining their performance. This study employed a convenience sample of first year students from five introductory biology courses, whereby 91 students completed the first questionnaire and 54 of those students completed the second questionnaire. These questionnaires included the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), an instrument designed for this study called the Biology Student Self-Efficacy Scale (BSSS), as well as several free-response questions. The quantitative results of this study showed that, overall, students become more self-efficacious with respect to biology, less confident in their abilities to manage their effort, and more confident in their ability to work with their peers over the course of the semester. Differences between different demographic groups of students with respect to motivation and study strategies were also found. Moreover, regression analyses showed that students’ academic self-efficacy and task value beliefs were positive predictors for performance; and that academic self-efficacy and effort management were negative predictors for change of major decisions. The qualitative results of this study demonstrated that, the majority of participants were likely to attribute their performance to internal factors, such as their own study behavior. Lastly, with the exception of students with undeclared majors, the participants in this study made uninformed choices for their majors. As evident in student responses, they are drawing upon too few, and informational resources when making decisions their majors and career paths. Therefore, it is recommended that institutions implement a career and major-planning course for first-year studentsen_US
dc.description.departmentScience, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Educationen_US
dc.format.mediumelectronicen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2152/84376
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.26153/tsw/11355
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.relation.ispartofUT Electronic Theses and Dissertationsen_US
dc.rightsCopyright © is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the Libraries' web site by University Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works.en_US
dc.rights.restrictionRestricteden_US
dc.subjectScience educationen_US
dc.subjectFirst-year studentsen_US
dc.subjectMotivated strategies for learningen_US
dc.titleAn exploratory study of the motivation, strategy use and major choice of first-year students enrolled in introductory biologyen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.genreThesisen_US
thesis.degree.departmentScience, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Educationen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineScience Educationen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Texas at Austinen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Artsen_US

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