The relationship between students' motivation and their performance in physics : an empirical study

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between students' motivation and their performance in physics among Form 3 and Form 4 students in a boys' church school. A total of 93 students participated in the questionnaire. The Physics Motivational Questionnaire (PMQ) developed by Glynn and Koballa (2005) was used to carry out this empirical study. The motivation constituent consisted of six other motivational variables (intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, personal relevance of learning physics, self-determination to learn physics, self-efficacy, and anxiety). The results were analysed by conducting a descriptive and a correlational analyses. The results acquired from this current study revealed that all variables have a positive relationship with students' academic achievement in physics examinations. However, only self-efficacy emerged as a significant predictor of performance in physics. The findings are discussed and the study provides some suggestions for future research.