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Asia-Pacific Forum
on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 11, Issue 2, Article 4 (Dec., 2010) |
It is claimed that academic success or failure is related to many factors. In general, the various studies that attempt to explain academic failure do so by beginning with three elements that intervene in education: parents (family causal factors); teachers (academic causal factors); and students (personal causal factors) (Diaz, 2003). When literature on physics education is reviewed, it is seen that the most frequently analyzed personal variables relating to achievement are gender, attitude and motivation. The correlation between students’ achievement in physics and gender has been a popular research subject in recent years. The findings of several studies show that there is a correlation between students’ achievement in physics and their gender, and that male students are more successful than their female peers at learning physics (see Pollock, Finkelstein, & Kost, 2007; Kost, Pollock, & Finkelstein, 2009; Kost-Smith, Pollock, & Finkelstein, 2010). The studies examining the relationship between achievement in physics and gender present findings demonstrating that factors such as student’s age (Beaton et al., 1996; Kahle & Meece, 1994), attitude and interest towards physics (see Kahle, Parker, Rennie, & Riley, 1993; Baker & Leary, 1995; Farenga & Joyce, 1997; Jones, Hove, & Rua, 2000) and social and linguistic behaviour (Stadler, Duit, & Benke, 2000) are pretty effective moderator variables regarding this relationship.
Another student variable that is thought to correlate with achievement in physics is learning strategies. Learning strategies (LSs) are defined as “behaviors and thoughts that a learner uses for processing information during learning” (Weinstein & Mayer, 1986). In education literature, there are various different classifications of LSs. Cognitive psychologists divide LSs into two main categories: cognitive and metacognitive. Vaidya (1999) describes these strategies as follows: Cognitive strategies are used in cognitive processes by helping a person to manipulate information such as note taking or asking questions, through various rehearsal, elaboration and organizational strategies. Vaidya (1999) argues that cognitive strategies tend to be task specific, that is, certain cognitive strategies are helpful only when learning or processing certain tasks. Metacognitive strategies are described as executive in nature (Vaidya, 1999), used for planning, monitoring and evaluating learning and for regulating progress (Najar, 1999).
Research on LSs shows that there is a relationship between the use of learning strategies and achievement in various academic disciplines (see Green & Oxford, 1995; Yumuşak, Sungur, & Çakıroğlu, 2007; Shin, Jeon, & Yang, 2010) and gender (see Sheorey, 1999; Carr, Jessup, & Fuller, 1999).
The relationship between physics and learning strategies has also been explored in a number of studies recently. These studies can be categorized into two groups. The first group of studies focuses on the use of strategy (Wee, Baacquie, & Huan, 1993; Sezgin Selçuk, Çalışkan, & Erol, 2006; Sağlam, 2010); whereas, the second one does so on strategy teaching (e.g., Koch & Eckstein, 1991; Koch, 2001; Rouet, Vidal-Abarca, Erboul, & Millogo, 2001). Research shows that strategy teaching definitely has positive impacts on learning outcomes such as success, reading comprehension and remembering. As far as is known, there is no correlation study examining the relationship between achievement in physics and use of learning strategies.
Some research has presented findings showing the connection between gender and utilization of learning strategies (see Cekolin, 2001; Goh & Foong, 1997; Sheorey, 1999). So far, this researcher has discovered only one study (Wee et al., 1993) analyzing the correlations among achievement in physics, gender and learning strategies. Therefore, more research is needed in this area.
In this study, the relationships among learning strategy use, attitude, gender and physics achievement and how they jointly influence pre-service teachers’ physics achievement in the context of Turkish culture were investigated. The following research questions directed the study:
1. Is pre-service teacher physics achievement correlated with reported frequency of learning strategies use, attitude toward physics and gender?
2. Which independent variables predict student achievement in introductory physics classes?
