ERIC Number: EJ1477438
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Aug
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0033-3085
EISSN: EISSN-1520-6807
Available Date: 2025-03-20
Domain-Specific Pathways of Instructional Clarity, Motivation, and Academic Achievement: Evidence from TIMSS 2019 in Australia
Fa Zhang1,2; Xia Zhang1; Yu Wang1
Psychology in the Schools, v62 n8 p2408-2420 2025
This study investigated how domain specificity of academic motivation related to the connection between instructional clarity and academic achievement in science and mathematics. It focused on three aspects of domain-specific academic motivation--self-concept, intrinsic value, and utility value--drawing from the Expectancy-Value Theory model. The study analyzed data from a nationally representative sample of 9060 eighth-grade students in Australia, with an average age of 14.1 years. After controlling for student demographics, socioeconomic status, and parental education level, the findings from structural equation modeling showed that instructional clarity positively related to students' mathematics achievement but did not significantly relate to their science achievement. Academic self-concept in both science and mathematics subjects was identified as the strongest motivational factor in student achievement. Additionally, the study demonstrated that instructional clarity was a stronger predictor of academic motivation to learn science compared to mathematics. These results offer empirical support for the connection between instructional clarity and students' academic achievement in science and mathematics via a domain-specific motivational pathway.
Descriptors: Teaching Methods, Instructional Effectiveness, Learning Motivation, Academic Achievement, Foreign Countries, Achievement Tests, Elementary Secondary Education, Science Achievement, Mathematics Achievement, International Assessment, Mathematics Tests, Science Tests, Grade 8, Predictor Variables, Self Concept
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education; Elementary Education; Grade 8; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1School of Education, The Open University of China, Beijing, China; 2Engineering Research Center of Integration and Application of Digital Learning Technology, Ministry of Education, Beijing, China