Relationship between High School Students' Achievement Goal Orientation and Academic Motivation for Learning Biology: A Path Analysis

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between high school students' achievement goal orientation and academic motivation for learning biology. The sample of the study consisted of 281 students taking biology course at science and Anatolian high schools in Kars. Survey method was employed in the study, and "Academic motivation scale for learning biology (AMSLB)" and "Achievement goal orientation questionnaire" were used as data gathering tools. According to the results of the study, while intrinsic motivation had a significant positive relationship with mastery-approach goals and negative relationship with mastery-avoidance goals, there was no significant relation of intrinsic motivation to performance-approach goals and performance-avoidance goals. Mastery-approach goal orientation, compared to other goal orientations, was observed to be the best predictor of all the sub-dimensions of motivation except the extrinsic motivation-social dimension.