Students’ motivation to study science: The case of Arab students in Israel

Abstract

The current study investigates the level of students’ motivation in Arab schools in Israel to study science subjects. In addition, we examined whether there was a difference in motivation: (1) between students in different types of schools (elementary, middle, and secondary schools), (2) between boys and girls, (3) between students according to the educational achievement, and (4) between students studying with male or female teachers. The study included 838 students from the different schools. The convenience sample method was used in which 25 items assessed five motivational categories: intrinsic, career, self-determination, self-efficacy, and achievement. The findings of the study showed that the motivation level among students to study science subjects was significantly high in all Arab schools (p≤0.05), but there were significant differences between the three types of schools (p≤0.05). In addition, the study revealed that the motivation level to study science was significantly higher: (1) among girls than among boys (p≤0.05), (2) among students with a high level of achievement than among students with medium/low levels (p≤0.05), and (3) among students whose teachers are females than among students whose teachers are males (p≤0.05).