THINKING SKILLS, ACADEMIC INTRINSIC MOTIVATION, ACADEMIC SELF-CONCEPT, AND ACADEMIC INDEPENDENCE IN HOMESCHOOLED CHILDREN

The purpose of this study was to examine thinking skills, academic intrinsic motivation, academic self-concept, and academic independence in homeschooled children. Homeschooled children ages 6-12 years old (N=46) completed the Test of Problem Solving 3: Elementary (TOPS), which measured the followin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of unschooling and alternative learning Vol. 12; no. 24; pp. 62 - 90
Main Authors Richard G. MEDLIN, Jessica L. BUTLER
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Nipissing University 01.12.2018
Subjects
academic intrinsic motivation
homeschooled children
thinking skills
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Summary:The purpose of this study was to examine thinking skills, academic intrinsic motivation, academic self-concept, and academic independence in homeschooled children. Homeschooled children ages 6-12 years old (N=46) completed the Test of Problem Solving 3: Elementary (TOPS), which measured the following thinking skills: making inferences, sequencing, answering negative questions, problem solving, predicting, and determining causes. The Homeschool Motivation Scale measured academic intrinsic motivation, academic self-concept, and academic independence. Parents completed a brief questionnaire. The results showed that homeschooled children’s TOPS scores were significantly higher than those of the test standardization sample for all six subscales and for the total test. There were significant positive correlations between TOPS total test scores and both academic intrinsic motivation and academic self-concept scores. TOPS total test scores were not consistently related to parental teaching techniques. This research suggests that thinking skills may be more advanced in homeschooled children than in children attending public schools.
ISSN:1916-8128