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An exploration of the effects of general ability, mastery goal orientation, self-efficacy, and elaborative strategy use on student achievement and construction of domain knowledge in introductory biology
Abstract
This study examined the relationships among general ability, mastery goal orientation, self-efficacy, and elaborative strategy use in an entry level college biology course as they affect: (1) students' examination scores from lecture material, (2) their total scores from a laboratory course, and (3) their ability to organize classroom concepts to form knowledge structures. Participants (N = 105) were primarily first-year students attending a large lecture class that was paired with small laboratory sections. All students completed the same assignments and took the same final exam. Self-efficacy, goal orientation, and the study strategy questionnaires were administered at the first laboratory session and returned at the next session. Concept ordering tasks were administered during the laboratory final exam. This study's findings suggest that motivational variables play a critical role in the success of students on classroom tasks and in the construction of knowledge. For lecture exam performance and laboratory final scores, students with medium ability and medium mastery orientation performed as well as high ability students with low mastery orientation. Regression analysis and a cluster analyses indicated that general ability may not be sufficient for success in the knowledge construction tasks. The regression results for self-efficacy on the knowledge construction task indicated that self-efficacy's role as a mediator of effort and strategy use may be debilitating if students underestimate the task. Students' performances in creating knowledge structures showed that the tasks routinely assigned in college classrooms may not provide adequate background for promoting the construction of complex, hierarchical domain knowledge. The complex task of building domain knowledge may require the combination of high levels of self-efficacy, mastery goal orientation, elaborative strategy use, and ability. It is possible, however, to be academically successful without engaging in the more intensive processes necessary to construct domain knowledge.
Subject Area
Educational psychology|Science education
Recommended Citation
Horn, Christy Anne, "An exploration of the effects of general ability, mastery goal orientation, self-efficacy, and elaborative strategy use on student achievement and construction of domain knowledge in introductory biology" (1993). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9333967.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9333967