Motivation in transition: Development and roles of expectancy, task values, and costs in early college engineering.

Abstract

This longitudinal study investigated development in expectancy for success (perceived competence), 3 types of task value (utility, interest, attainment), and 3 types of perceived cost (opportunity, effort, psychological) for engineering students during their first 2 years of college. Latent growth curve models indicated declines in expectancy and values, with attainment value declining more slowly than expectancy, interest value, and utility value. Costs increased over time, with effort cost increasing more rapidly than psychological cost. Demographic differences were observed in initial levels of motivation, but not in rates of change over time. Students with slower declines in expectancy and value and slower increases in effort cost achieved higher grades and were more likely to remain in an engineering major. The attainment value model explained the largest amount of variance in engineering major retention, while the expectancy model explained the largest amount of variance in GPA. Taking a supportive gateway course in the first semester rather than later was associated with slower declines in utility value and attainment value, and slower increases in effort cost. Results suggest expectancy, values, and costs display unique patterns of development and uniquely relate to predictors and outcomes, extending our theoretical understanding of motivation in early college. Implications for practice include the promise of programmatic efforts to support students’ motivation in engineering through supportive gateway courses early in college.

Science identity development trajectories in a gateway college chemistry course: Predictors and relations to achievement and STEM pursuit

“…While prior research has indicated that identity-related beliefs may decline on average in the long- and short-term, suggesting broad-based supports are needed to buffer students’ motivational trajectories, we investigated heterogeneous semester-long trajectories of science identity in an effort to capture the nature and prevalence of typical development in a large introductory course. Building on prior research examining long-term trajectories (Robinson, Perez, et al (2018); Robinson, Lee, et al, 2018), our findings inform the theoretical conceptualization of attainment value as largely stable, though with the potential for rapid change even within a single semester. Indeed, though identity-related beliefs are often conceptualized as relatively stable, our results indicate that some students in a gateway chemistry course experienced sharp declines in science identity within a single semester.…”

“…One study examining engineering identity alongside expectancy, other task values, and perceived costs found average declines throughout the first two years of college, but identity declined at a slower rate than expectancy and other task values (Robinson, Lee, et al, 2018). Jacobs and colleagues (2002) documented declines in math-related task value (a composite of interest, utility, and broad importance) from first through twelfth grade.…”

“…Lastly, Fredricks and Eccles (2002) noted declines in “importance,” a composite of utility and broad importance, for math from first through twelfth grade. Notably, these prior studies considered average development for the entire sample and, with the exception of Robinson, Lee, et al, 2018, did not examine identity-related attainment value specifically. These observed declines would suggest that broad-based motivation interventions are needed to support identity development for all students, and that attainment value may not change much in the short-term or even throughout college.…”

“…Identity beliefs, including students’ value for a domain because of its importance to their identity, can be a powerful source of motivation but there is little research examining their development and correlates in college. Prior work provides evidence of average declines in motivational constructs related to identity (Robinson, Lee, et al, 2018; Fredricks & Eccles, 2002; Jacobs, Lanza, Osgood, Eccles, & Wigfield, 2002; Watt., 2004) suggesting a need for broad-based identity supports in college; however, more recent research identified heterogenous patterns of identity development across college such that not all students experienced a decline (Robinson, Perez, Nuttall, Roseth, & Linnenbrink-Garcia, 2018). Additional research is needed to consider and identify various patterns of development in order to understand what factors facilitate adaptive science identity development.…”

The why and what of academic goals, their perceived value, and relation to academic goal pursuit

“…area (Gaspard et al, 2018;Hagemeier & Murawski, 2014;Lauermann, Tsai, & Eccles, 2017;Perez, Cromley, & Kaplan, 2014;Perez et al, 2019;Robinson et al, 2019;Simons, Dewitte, & Lens, 2003;Tulis & Fulmer, 2013;Wang, Degol, & Ye, 2015;Wu & Fan, 2017).…”