MOTIVATION AND LEARNING STRATEGIES AS PREDICTORS OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ MATH ACHIEVEMENT

Abstract

As a country striving toward economic and technological development, having remarkable number of school age children, in need of improving it’s science and mathematics education-particularly given the disappointing PISA results, and aiming at establishing highly functional school counseling services, Turkey will greatly benefit from studies exploring student variables associated with their success in various subject areas. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine as to which motivation and learning strategies high school students use for mathematics courses predict their achievement level in the respective courses. A convenient sample of 440 high school students attending to two public high schools in the Altindag District of Ankara, Turkey during the academic year of 2010-2011. A Personal Information Form and Motivation and Learning Strategies Scale were used for data collection. Step-wise regression analysis was used as the data analytic procedure. Results showed that factors such as task value (M), time/study environment (LS), self-efficacy (M), extrinsic goal orientation (LS), test anxiety (M), peer learning (LS) and organization (LS)] significantly predicted students’ mathematics achievement. Some factors of motivation and learning strategies significantly predict students’ achievement levels in mathematics according to gender. Different factors of motivation and learning strategies significantly predicted students’ achievement levels in mathematics for each grade level. Results, limitations of the study, implications for school counseling services, mathematics education and future research were discussed.