Exploring the interplay between psychosocial learning environmental factors, motivation, and self-regulation in 9th -12th grade science

Students who once loved science are somehow losing the passion as they progress through their high school courses. There is a need to create science literate citizens; however, it is difficult to accomplish this task if students are not motivated to learn science during their high school years. As a result, this non-experimental, quantitative study examined 9th -12th grade student perceptions of the psychosocial learning factors within a science classroom and their impact on motivation and self-regulation to learn science concepts. Archival data from a convenience sample during the 2013-2014 school year was used for this study. The What is Happening In This Class (WIHIC) and Students’ Adaptive Learning Engagement in Science (SALES) instruments were used to measure the relationships between the psychosocial learning factors, motivation, and self-regulation within a science classroom. Findings indicated there is a statistically significant positive relationship between student perceptions of the psychosocial learning environment and motivation to learn science. There is also a statistically significant positive relationship between student perceptions of the psychosocial learning environment and a student’s self-regulation practices as they relate to learning science concepts. Additionally, there is evidence of a statistically significant relationship between grade level and student perceptions of the psychosocial learning environment.