Effects of a teacher training program on the motivation and satisfaction of history secondary students

Abstract

History classes in Secondary Education form a teaching and learning space with practices that are nourished by two traditional epistemological and methodological models. To counter these models, a training program was carried out in the specialty of Geography and History of the Teacher Training Master’s aimed at changing their methodological and epistemological concepts and the design of innovative training units. The effects are evaluated through the implementation of these training units in curricular practices. This evaluation was with a pre-test and post-test formed by two scales (motivation and satisfaction). The analysis strategy was developed in two phases. In the first, the longitudinal factorial invariance is checked, progressively analyzing this invariance between the pre-test and post-test scales. In the second, a second-order growth model or factor curve is applied to assess the change in latent variables between the pre-test and the post-test. After the application of the program, a substantial increase in student motivation and satisfaction was observed. This increase was most visible in motivation, due to the low initial levels of the students.