A Comparative Study On The Motivation Of Geography Learning In Senior Middle School

Geography science is a subject which is tightly linked with students’ real life and is obviously important. Geography learning motivation is a kind of non-intelligence factor. It has functions of inspiring, orientation and maintaining in senior high school students’ geography study. However, affected by a variety of factors together, the overall level of senior high school students’ geography learning motivation is low and different groups of senior high school students show differences in their geography study, especially arts and science students. Their attitudes towards geography learning are rather different. Therefore, the study of senior high school students’ geography learning motivation is urgently needed. The contrast study of students’ geography learning motivation of liberal arts and science is especially imminent. This study selects a western rural ordinary senior high school--No.2Middle School of Xixiang, Shaanxi. This is a comparative study of geography learning motivation between liberal arts students and science students. So, it has both feasibility and operability.The theoretical basis of this study is educational theory, psychological theory and geography teaching theory. Questionnaires, interviews, classroom observation and other methods that analyze senior high school students’ geography learning motivation are mainly used. In this study, the author uses self-made questionnaire, including two parts:"geography learning motivation" and " the factors which influence geography learning motivation ". Through the collation and analysis of questionnaire results, the thesis finds that it has the following characteristics in students’ geography learning motivation of No.2Middle School of Xixiang:Firstly, overall level of senior high school students’ geography learning motivation in the middle, the internal motivation is dominant learning motivation; Secondly, great differences in geography learning motivation exist among different groups of senior high school students:(1)difference in geography learning motivation is very obvious between liberal arts students and science students. Liberal arts students’learning motivation is significantly higher than science students’ and liberal arts students’dominant learning motivation is the external motivation while science students’is the internal motivation;(2) Senior high school students’ geography learning motivation varies very little between different sexes,(3) with the increase of grade, senior high school students’ geography learning motivation is decreased,(4) geography learning motivation varies very little between rural students and urban students. Thirdly, geography learning motivation varies very little in internal content of geography. Based on the characteristics and differences in geography learning motivation among different groups of senior high school students, this study puts forwards the following four aspects to inspire and cultivate senior high school students’ geography learning motivation:Firstly, construct external environment helping to train senior high school students’ geography learning motivation; Secondly, optimize the geography classroom to stimulate and cultivate senior high school students’ geography learning motivation; Thirdly, guide the students to form a correct concept of attribution; The last but not the least, richen teaching evaluation methods and increase senior high school students’ geography learning motivation.The innovation of this study is captured differences of students’ geography learning motivation between liberal arts and science students. This study selects the remote western region rural high school and it is a comparative study of geography learning motivation between liberal arts and science students. So, it is more pertinent than other studies on the whole high school students. And the analysis is more deep and specific. Therefore, the geographic motivation training strategy is more feasible and referable.