Can parental involvement mitigate “swing away from science”? Sri Lankan perspectives

• Main Authors: Anthoni Durage Asoka De Silva, Ali Khatibi, S.M. Ferdous Azam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2018-01-01
• Series: Cogent Education
• Subjects: science; motivation; parental involvement; secondary students; performance
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2018.1467244

“Swing away from science” is a dilemma that researchers are seeking solutions over 50 years. The dilemma is becoming more complicated due to the developmental decline in students’ motivation toward learning science around the world, particularly at the secondary level. While the parental involvement becomes more vital in the secondary school years, it also dramatically declines in this period. The study investigated the level of parental involvement in terms of parents’ socioeconomic factors and students’ demographic factors. The association between parental involvement measured in terms of four dimensions and Sri Lankan secondary public school students’ motivation toward learning science measured in terms of six dimensions was also studied. A random sample of 689 students and their parents participated in this quantitative survey. While the parental involvement showed significant differences in relation to the parents’ income level and the school category that the child attends, the same showed no significant difference in relation to parents’ ethnicity and child’s gender. Parental involvement showed a strong association with students’ intrinsically and extrinsically motivated science learning and self-efficacy. Home-based parental involvements had a stronger impact on students’ motivation compared to the school-based involvements. Measures that can be taken by the stakeholders to strengthen the parental involvement activities, which enhance students’ motivation to learn science and mitigate swing away from science were discussed.