UTICAJ EKSPERIMENTA NA MOTIVACIJU UČENIKA ZA UČENJE GEOGRAFIJE
THE IMPACT OF EXPERIMENTAL TEACHING ON STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING GEOGRAPHY

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the research is to examine the impact of experimentation as a teaching method on the motivation of primary school students to learn geography. The theoretical framework is based on Bandura’s socio-cognitive theory of motivation. The research was conducted using the experimental method with parallel groups. The empirical study involved 147 fifth-grade primary school students (across six classes taught by the same geography teacher) in the municipality of Šabac (Republic of Serbia), including 73 students in the control group (C) and 74 students in the experimental group (E).In the experimental group, a teaching approach based on the use of experiments was applied in covering geographic content on the topic of Earth's movements, while the control group followed a traditional approach, centered around the dominant role of the teacher. After the lessons were delivered in these differing ways, the motivation to learn geography was assessed in both groups. The SMTSL (Students’ Motivation Toward Science Learning) questionnaire, adapted and designed for student self-assessment of motivation, was used as the instrument. Descriptive statistics and an independent samples t-test were used to determine differences in student motivation. The results showed a significantly higher overall motivation score for learning geography among students in the experimental group compared to those in the control group. Additionally, the findings revealed a statistically significant increase in motivation across all subscales in the experimental group—most notably in the subscales Understanding the Importance of Geography as a Science and Self-Efficacy, while the smallest differences appeared in Achievement-Oriented Motivation. These results are useful for teachers, as they point to the positive impact of using experimentation on students’ motivation to learn geography.

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