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A Cultural Perspective On The Structure Of Student Interest In Science, John Ainley, Mary Ainley

Dr John Ainley

In this article, the authors examine the nature of interest in science as represented in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006 data. They discuss the interconnections between measures of knowledge, affect, and value as components of interest in science. Working from a perspective acknowledging that many of the models of motivation represented in the literature have been developed in Western countries, the authors investigated whether the ways that knowledge, affect, and value combine in the structure of students' interest in science might vary in line with historical and cultural traditions. Four countries were chosen to represent contrasting cultural …