Understanding student achievement in science is important as there is an increasing reliance of the U.S. economy on math, science, and technology-related fields despite the declining number of youth seeking college degrees and careers in math and science. A series of structural equation models were tested using the scores from a statewide science exam for 276 students from a suburban north Texas public school district at the end of their 5th grade year and the latent variables of spatial ability, motivation to learn science and science-related attitude. Spatial ability was tested as a mediating variable on motivation and attitude; however, while spatial ability had statistically significant regression coefficients with motivation and attitude, spatial ability was found to be the sole statistically significant predictor of science achievement for these students explaining 23.1% of the variance in science scores.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc67961 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Bolen, Judy Ann |
| Contributors | Hull, Darrell M., Henson, Robin K., Glover, Rebecca, Natesan, Prathiba |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | Text |
| Rights | Public, Copyright, Bolen, Judy Ann, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. |
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