The Role of Motivational Beliefs in Conceptual Change

Abstract

The authors discuss the importance of considering students’ motivation when investigating conceptual change. They begin by presenting a general model of the direct and indirect relations of achievement goals to conceptual change. Next, two empirical studies examining college students’ changing understandings of projectile motion are presented. Study 1 investigated the direct and mediated effects of achievement goals, affect, and cognitive strategy use on students’ change in physics understanding (N=105). Results indicated that adopting mastery goals resulted in higher levels of conceptual change, especially for those students with low prior knowledge. Performance goals were unrelated to conceptual change. Neither affect nor cognitive strategy use mediated the relation of mastery goals to change in physics understanding. Study 2 (N=l 10) was designed to replicate Study 1 and further examine potential mediators of achievement goals to conceptual change. As in Study 1, mastery goals were positively related to a change in physics understanding; however, this did not vary based on prior knowledge. Furthermore, elaborative strategy use and negative affect partially mediated the relation between mastery goals and change in physics understanding.