2021 Volume 45 Issue 4 Pages 393-405
This study focused on observations and experiments in science classes to examine the effects of interest in observation and experiments on learning strategies and “knowledge of skills for observations and experiments” (academic achievement index). The hypothesized model was a model with interest as the predictor variable, learning strategies as the mediation variable, and knowledge of skills as the objective variable. The first was to estimate the factor structure of the learning strategies in observations and experiments, and the second was to estimate the “Item Discriminations” and “Item Difficulties” using Item Response Theory in order to clarify the structure of the target variable, “knowledge of skills for observations and experiments”.
The results of testing the model showed that there was an indirect effect (β=.266 [.092, .452]) from positive emotion (“strength” of interest) to “knowledge of skills for observations and experiments” mediated by problem-solving strategy. And there was an indirect effect (β=.092 [.037, .192]) from thought deepening-based orientation (“depth” of interest) to “knowledge of skills for observations and experiments” mediated by problem-solving strategy. This result indicates that both the strength and depth of interest in observations and experiments independently contribute to academic achievement in science learning.
