Department of Psychology, University of Almeria, 04120 Almería, Spain.
Department of Sociology, Social Work and Public Health, University of Huelva, 21004 Huelva, Spain.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 24;19(7):3864. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19073864.
During the secondary school stage, students' motivation to study may decrease and affect their future expectations, which are exclusively directed toward the search for employment, with the consequent abandonment of academic training. The main objective of the present paper was to examine the sources of motivation to study and the future expectations of secondary school students, as well as to develop a predictive model of their future expectations based on the variables studied. The sample consisted of a total of 35,943 students from different Spanish high schools, with an average age of 15.83 (SD = 0.28). The instrument used was the placement tests referring to the PISA 2018 report. On the one hand, the results showed that the main source of motivation for secondary school students to study responds to some kind of imposition either from the surrounding environment or internally, which appears to be represented by identified or controlled extrinsic motivation. In terms of future expectations, important factors included the fundamentally expression of their intention to continue studying rather than to stop studying, facts or economic support which they considered as influential to their capacity to study, and the opinions of others such as parents and friends. On the other hand, sex showed some significant differences in terms of future expectations but did not predict them. The regression model explained 20.9% of the variability of future expectations based on variables such as grade repetition, reasons that discourage studying (not being interested in the contents and never studying), and the influences on future expectations (school grades and subject mastery). Finally, the structural equation model revealed that grade repetition predicts the reasons that discourage studying and these in turn impact future expectations which are influenced by school grades, performing well in a specialty, and having talent. Likewise, there was a negative correlation between repeating a course and school grades, performing well in a specialty, and having talent. Based on these results, it would be advisable to improve the intrinsic motivation of secondary school students by means of educational actions that contribute to the adjustment of their future expectations and attend to the students' own interests, desires, and competencies, all with the main purpose of contributing to meaningful learning and facilitating professional orientation, and above all, attending to diversity to reduce school failure.
在中学阶段，学生的学习动力可能会下降，影响他们未来的期望，这些期望完全指向就业，从而放弃学业培训。本文的主要目的是检验中学生学习动力的来源和未来期望，并根据所研究的变量建立一个预测他们未来期望的模型。样本由来自西班牙不同高中的 35943 名学生组成，平均年龄为 15.83 岁（标准差为 0.28）。使用的工具是 PISA 2018 报告的安置测试。一方面，结果表明，中学生学习的主要动力来源是来自周围环境或内部的某种强加，这似乎表现为被识别或控制的外部动机。就未来期望而言，重要因素包括他们继续学习而不是停止学习的基本意图，他们认为对自己学习能力有影响的事实或经济支持，以及父母和朋友等他人的意见。另一方面，性别在未来期望方面存在一些显著差异，但不能预测未来期望。回归模型基于年级重复、阻碍学习的原因（对内容不感兴趣，从不学习）和对未来期望的影响（学校成绩和学科掌握程度）等变量，解释了未来期望变化的 20.9%。最后，结构方程模型表明，年级重复预测了阻碍学习的原因，而这些原因又影响了未来期望，未来期望受学校成绩、在专业上表现出色和有天赋的影响。同样，重复一门课程与学校成绩、在专业上表现出色和有天赋呈负相关。基于这些结果，最好通过有助于调整学生未来期望并关注学生自身兴趣、愿望和能力的教育行动来提高中学生的内在动机，其主要目的是促进有意义的学习和促进职业指导，最重要的是，关注多样性以减少学业失败。
