Factors affecting upper secondary school students' earth science academic achievement: A structural equation modeling approach

To understand how to enhance upper secondary school students' academic achievement in Earth sciences, this study used structural equation modeling to investigate the key factors and mechanisms affecting their academic achievement. In this study, 726 students from five upper secondary schools in Jiangxi Province, China, were randomly selected and surveyed regarding their attitude toward practice, spatial thinking, sense of place, the value of farming experience, and academic achievement in Earth science scales. The results of the correlation analysis showed that attitude toward practice positively affected academic achievement in Earth science, spatial thinking, sense of place, and the value of farming experience. Spatial thinking had a positive effect on academic achievement in Earth science. The sense of place had a positive impact on the value of the farming experience. Additionally, the value of farming experience had a positive effect on academic achievement in Earth science. Based on these results, this study offers theoretical support for enhancing students' academic achievement in Earth science.