A Research On The Structure And Characteristics Of Middle School Students' Academic Value Outlook

The value outlook on study, the over-all views a student has on his or her ongoing process of study, has direct relations to students' study approaches and academic achievement. A close look into the value outlook on study can help with comprehending the value orientation for study activities on student's part, in order to have a good grasp of students' study and development. The Standards of Basic Curriculum established by the new reforms in the curriculum in China sets "emotions, attitudes, and the cultivation of the value outlook" one of the key goals, and makes the academic value outlook the important contents of the evaluation and cultivation of the students' quality. However, there are not so many theoretical discussions about the middle school students' academic value outlook, and few substantial researches. Therefore, the research on the middle school students' academic value outlook has great senses. It can give theoretical support and substantial evidence.This research systematically studies the academic value outlooks of middle school students, by means of open-ended interview, questionnaire, explorative and experimental factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and so forth. The research is divided into 3 sections, consisting of 4 constituent researches, which respectively involves: the factor analysis of middle school students' academic value outlook; analysis of the characteristics of middle school students' academic value outlook; relational analysis regarding academic value outlook, achievement motive and study strategies. The results of the above researches colligated, the following c onclusion is drawn:1. The "Questionnaire on Middle School Students' Academic Value Outlook" designed in this research conforms to the standards of psychological measurement.2. Middle school students' academic value outlook consists of outlooks concerning intentional academic value outlook and methodological academic value outlook. Intentional values include 4 first order factors: position pursuit, achievement realization, familial maintenance and social fosterage. These four factors are jointly explained with the factor of intentional academic value outlook. Methodological values include 7 first order factors. This model has a favorable goodness of fit. There is complicated correlation between the intentional academic value outlook and methodological academic value outlook of middle school students, intentional value outlook of the study can influence the choice of the method.3. Academic value outlooks of middle school students appear diversity. Generally, middle school students think much of the values of achievement, health, perseverance, obligation and normalization in study. In the aspect of intentional academic value outlook, they cares about the achievement realization most, then the familial maintenance and social fosterage, and position pursuit the least. In the aspect of methodological academic value outlook, the score from high to low which the boy students get respectively involves: health, perseverance, obligation and normalization, relaxing and exciting, personal development, academic success and interest and capability; the score from high to low which the girl students get respectively involves: obligation and normalization, relaxing and exciting, perseverance, health, academic success, personal development and interest and capability.4. All the factors of middle school students' academic value outlook have remarkable main effect on grades, and remarkable interactions between grades and types of schools. Middle school students' academic value outlook and all factors all indicate a diminishing tendency as school years increase. Evident differences are that methodological academic value outlook indicates a ascending tendency between senior school year 2 and year 3, while intentional academic value outlook doesn't indicate this tendency.5. Position pursuit and social fosterage influence motives of success, position pursuit and achievement realization avoid failure motives. And among of them, students who have a strong goal of realizing achievement, can avoid bringing about failure motives effectively.6. Perseverance, interest and capability, academic success influence the pursuit of success motives. Academic success, obligatory normalization and perseverance influence avoidance of failure motives. Students who habitually employ means of perseverance and normal obligation can effectively avoid failure motives.7. Academic success, obligatory normalization and perseverance influence deep-level strategies. Perseverance, obligatory normalization and academic success influence the achievement strategies. Perseverance, relaxing and stability, and interest and capability influence the surface strategies.8. Position pursuit, achievement realization and familial maintenance influence deep-level strategies. Position pursuit and achievement realization influence the achievement strategies. Position pursuit influences the surface strategies.This research is innovative in the following aspects: (1) This research investigates and reveals the concept, component structure and developmental characteristics of academic value outlook. (2) In this research the "Questionnaire on Middle School Students' Academic Value Outlook" is designed, which conforms to the standards of psychological measurement and provides instrument for measuring middle school students' academic value outlook. (3) This research reveals the relations between middle school students' academic value outlook, achievement motives and study strategies.