Abstract

Important factors in learning science include motivationalvariables (relevance of science learning for personal goals,self‐efficacy for learning science, and interest in a scientificcareer), emotional variables (boredom and enjoyment inscience classes), and engagement variables (vigor, dedica-tion, and absorption towards science studies). Data from3034 Chilean and Spanish compulsory secondary educationstudents was used to study the relationships betweenthese variables, by means of a self‐report questionnaireanalyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Themodel, tested for goodness of fit, showed that motivationalvariables predict emotions in science classes and explained43% of boredom variance and 67% of enjoyment variance.Motivational and emotional variables explained the 73%variance in engagement toward science studies. Also seenis the essential role played by emotions that mediatebetween motivational variables in science learning andengagement towards science studies. When promotingengagement towards science studies, these results can beused to increase relevance of science learning to personal goals, self‐efficacy for learning science, and interest in ascientific career, besides reducing boredom, increasingenjoyment in science classes, and enhancing engagementtowards science studies.