Relationship Between Academic Motivation and Mathematics Achievement Among Indian Adolescents in Canada and India

This study examined the relationships between academic motivation—intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, amotivation—and mathematics achievement among 363 Indian adolescents in India and 355 Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation were not statistically significantly related to mathematics achievement among Indian adolescents in India. In contrast, both intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation were statistically significantly related to mathematics achievement among Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada. While intrinsic motivation was a statistically significant positive predictor of mathematics achievement among Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada, extrinsic motivation was a statistically significant negative predictor of mathematics achievement among Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada. Amotivation was not statistically significantly related to mathematics achievement among Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada. Implications of the findings for pedagogy and practice are discussed.     

A qualitative study of Indian and Indian immigrant adolescents’ perceptions of the factors affecting their engagement and performance in school

Although a growing body of quantitative research has examined the non-cognitive factors affecting the school engagement and performance of adolescents across cultures, there is relatively sparse qualitative research investigating the perceptions of adolescents regarding the factors influencing their engagement and performance in school. This focus group study comprising 32 Indian adolescents from India (mean age = 16.78 years) and 20 Indian immigrant adolescents from Canada (mean age = 17.05 years), therefore, using a self-determination theory perspective, explored the perceptions of Indian and Indian immigrant adolescents about the factors affecting their school engagement and performance in India and Canada, respectively. Thematic analysis of eight focus group discussions suggested that Indian and Indian immigrant adolescents were primarily extrinsically motivated toward school and academics. Further, both the Indian and Indian immigrant adolescents perceived their classroom teachers as controlling rather than autonomy-supportive. Implications of the findings are briefly discussed.     

Correction to: Examining acculturation orientations and perceived cultural distance among immigrant adolescents in Portugal: links to performance in reading,mathematics, and science

The article “Examining acculturation orientations and perceived cultural distance among immigrant adolescents in Portugal: links to performance in reading, mathematics, and science”,...     

Relationships of Cognitive and Metacognitive Learning Strategies to Mathematics Achievement in Four High-Performing East Asian Education Systems

The authors examined the relationships of cognitive (i.e., memorization and elaboration) and metacognitive learning strategies (i.e., control strategies) to mathematics achievement among 15-year-old students in 4 high-performing East Asian education systems: Shanghai-China, Hong Kong-China, Korea, and Singapore. In all 4 East Asian education systems, memorization strategies were negatively associated with mathematics achievement, whereas control strategies were positively associated with mathematics achievement. However, the association between elaboration strategies and mathematics achievement was a mixed bag. In Shanghai-China and Korea, elaboration strategies were not associated with mathematics achievement. In Hong Kong-China and Singapore, on the other hand, elaboration strategies were negatively associated with mathematics achievement. Implications of these findings are briefly discussed.     

Parenting Practices,Parenting Style,and Children’s School Achievement

This study, drawing on data from the 2002 Survey of Approaches to Educational Planning (SAEP), examined the predictive effects of parenting practices and parenting style on children’s school achievement, and the predictive effects of parental expectations and parental beliefs on parenting style for 6,626 respondents with children aged 5–18 years in Canada. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses, after controlling for family socioeconomic status (SES), revealed the substantial positive predictive effects of family SES, parental encouragement, parental expectations, and parental beliefs on children’s school achievement. In contrast, parental monitoring had a substantial negative predictive effect on children’s school achievement in the context of other variables. Although parental expectations were not related to parenting style, parental beliefs were positively associated with both parental encouragement and parental monitoring—the two dimensions of authoritative parenting style.     

Are Learning Strategies Linked to Academic Performance Among Adolescents in Two States in India? A Tobit Regression Analysis

The results of the fourth cycle of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) revealed that an unacceptably large number of adolescent students in two states in India—Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu—have failed to acquire basic skills in reading, mathematics, and science (Walker, 2011). Drawing on data from the PISA 2009 database and employing multivariate left-censored tobit regression as a data analytic strategy, the present study, therefore, examined whether or not the learning strategies—memorization, elaboration, and control strategies—of adolescent students in Himachal Pradesh (N = 1,616; Mean age = 15.81 years) and Tamil Nadu (N = 3,210; Mean age = 15.64 years) were linked to their performance on the PISA 2009 reading, mathematics, and science assessments. Tobit regression analyses, after accounting for student demographic characteristics, revealed that the self-reported use of control strategies was significantly positively associated with reading, mathematical, and scientific literacy of adolescents in Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. While the self-reported use of elaboration strategies was not significantly associated with reading literacy among adolescents in Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, it was significantly positively associated with mathematical literacy among adolescents in Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Moreover, the self-reported use of elaboration strategies was significantly and positively linked to scientific literacy among adolescents in Himachal Pradesh alone. The self-reported use of memorization strategies was significantly negatively associated with reading, mathematical, and scientific literacy in Tamil Nadu, while it was significantly negatively associated with mathematical and scientific literacy alone in Himachal Pradesh. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Influence of motivation,self-beliefs,and instructional practices on science achievement of adolescents in Canada

This study examined the effects of motivation to learn science, science self-beliefs, and science instructional practices on science achievement of 13,985 15-year-old students from 431 schools across Canada. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses, while controlling for student- and school-level demographic characteristics, revealed the substantial predictive effects of motivation to learn science, science self-beliefs, and science instructional practices on science achievement of adolescents. Motivational beliefs—self-efficacy and self-concept—and enjoyment of science had substantial positive predictive effects on science achievement. In contrast, general interest in science had a negative predictive effect on science achievement in the context of other variables. Whereas science teaching using hands-on activities had a substantial positive predictive effect on science achievement, science teaching using student investigations had a substantial negative predictive effect in the context of other variables. The final HLM model indicated that only 8% of the variance in science achievement was between schools and 92% of the variance involved students within schools.     

Mediational role of academic motivation in the association between school self-concept and school achievement among Indian adolescents in Canada and India

The present study examined the mediational role of academic motivation in the association between school self-concept and school achievement among 355 Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada and 363 Indian adolescents in India. Surveys were administered among Grades 9?C12 students in Canada and India to assess their academic self-concepts, academic motivation, and academic achievement. Bootstrapped tests of simultaneous multiple indirect effects were conducted to determine the unique ability of each putative mediator??intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation??to account for the effect of school self-concept on overall school GPA for Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada and Indian adolescents in India. Mediational analyses revealed the mediational roles of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the association between school self-concept and school achievement for Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada, while intrinsic motivation solely mediated the relations between school self-concept and school achievement for Indian adolescents in India. Amotivation was not a significant mediator for both the Indian immigrant and Indian adolescents. Implications of the findings are discussed.