Why students strive in Primary Education? A study of motivational orientation by course and sex.

Abstract

The purpose of the current research study has been to know which are the reasons students have to strive in the learning process through the goal theory, analysing course and sex differences. In this line, 1059 students (539 girls and 520 boys) of 4th, 5th and 6th grade of Primary Education took part filling out the Academic Goals Questionnaire (García et al., 1998). The results suggest that there was a significant correlation of mild-moderate intensity between the different goals. Likewise, the boys showed significantly higher scores than girls in social assessment goals and the girls significantly higher that the boys in learning goals. With regard to the course, it was also noticed that learning goals and social assessment goals decreased with the passage of time. These findings agree almost entirely with investigations developed in another type of population.