Student motivation and engagement in mathematics, science, and English : multilevel modelling

Across mathematics, science, and English school subjects, the present study explores a number of issues relevant to the multilevel nature of motivation and engagement and the personal and contextual factors that predict them. Among a sample of 1,701 junior and middle high school students, it examines (a) the extent to which motivation and engagement vary at student, class, and school levels and (b) the extent to which student gender, teacher gender, and grade impact on student motivation and engagement. In relation to the latter, it was of particular interest to determine how motivation and engagement differentially function for boys and girls taught by male or female teachers. Using multilevel modelling procedures (MLwiN), findings demonstrate that the bulk of variance in motivation and engagement occurs at the student level. Relatively few measures yielded significant class-level variance and the bulk of significant class-level variance was found for mathematics. Relatively few significant main effects emerged. Most of them were in girls' favour and all pertained to mathematics and science. Of particular importance, motivation and engagement did not vary substantially for boys and girls as a function of the teacher's gender. Findings are discussed in terms of the implications for educational intervention and for current thinking and theorising about student motivation and engagement