Author(s)
Vijayakumaran Ponnampalam, Prasanna Liyanage, Velnamby.T
Abstract
Student engagement in physics education is a persistent challenge, particularly in the Jaffna district of Sri Lanka, where traditional teacher-centered approaches limit autonomy and intrinsic motivation. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this study examines the impact of an Autonomy-Supportive Intervention Program (ASIP) on students’ engagement in junior secondary physics education. The study employed experimental design with Jaffna Educational Zone all grade seven public school science teachers (n = 60) and their 559 students (experimental group male =126, female=153, total=279 and control group male =145, female=135,total=280) were selected as the samples such that one teacher from each school where the number of students in grade 7 is greater than 4 and if number of teachers more than one in a school one teacher was selected by randomly toasting to ensure a balanced and representative for the generalizability of experimental findings. Teachers were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n = 30, male =7, female=23), which underwent the 17-week ASIP, or a control group (n = 30, male =7, female=23), which received no intervention. The intervention included professional development workshops that trained teachers in autonomy-supportive teaching strategies. Quantitative findings from the Student’s Learning Climate Questionnaire (LCQ) revealed a significant increase in student-reported autonomy support in the experimental group (p < 0.001, η² = 0.970). Thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with five students of experimental group identified key themes such as increased student choice, initiative, and engagement in hands-on learning activities. The results underscore the effectiveness of ASIP in fostering autonomy-supportive instructional behaviours, leading to enhanced student motivation and deeper learning in physics. This study contributes to the growing body of research advocating for autonomy-supportive pedagogical practices in physics education and offers practical recommendations for teacher training and curriculum design.