MOTIVATION AND MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT - COMPARISONS BETWEEN ASIAN-AMERICAN AND NON-ASIAN STUDENTS

Constructs related to mathematics achievement in 353 Asian-American an d non-Asian fourth, fifth, and sixth graders are examined. Students we re surveyed regarding beliefs and expectations about ability in relati on to mathematical tasks (self-concept of ability, perception of paren tal beliefs, causal attributions of success and failure), perception o f mathematics, and reasons for engaging in the task (task-involved or ego-involved motivation). Additionally, how well these constructs pred ict mathematics achievement was investigated, noting potentially diffe rent weightings between Asian-American and non-Asian students. Results show Asian-American students differ significantly from non-Asian stud ents on several constructs, partly reflecting Asian-American students' lower self-concepts of mathematics ability and their belief that thei r parents share that conception. Groups also differed in the relative importance of the motivational constructs in predicting mathematics ac hievement. Results are discussed in relation to the comparative mathem atics achievement of both ethnic groups. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.