Patterns of Subjective Task Values and Cost in Five Subjects Over Secondary School

• In Event: Extending the Expectancy-Value Model: Definitions and Functions of Cost in Students' Choice, Engagement, and Performance

Abstract

Students’ value beliefs for various subjects have been found to decrease across secondary school (e.g., Jacobs et al., 2002). This decline in student motivation has been explained by factors inherent in age-related changes such as an increasing differentiation of students’ interests (Krapp, 2002). To further understand the development of student motivation, multiple subjects as well as multiple dimensions of student motivation need to be taken into account.
Expectancy-value theory (Eccles et al., 1983) differentiates between different positive value components and cost as one negative component. However, these components were not always assessed separately in previous research. In particular, there is a lack of studies including measures of cost (Wigfield & Cambria, 2010). Moreover, interpretation of mean-level differences requires that strong measurement invariance holds across age groups (Frenzel et al., 2012) and subjects (Nagengast et al., 2013).
The aim of the current study was twofold. First, we tested whether an instrument assessing multiple facets of value beliefs showed reasonable measurement properties in confirmatory factor analysis models across different age groups and subjects. Second, we investigated age-related differences in multiple facets of value beliefs and cost across five subjects.
855 students out of 51 classrooms from grade five to grade twelve in two German academic track schools participated in this study. Students’ value beliefs for German, English, math, biology, and physics (from grade seven on) were assessed with the same set of 36 items for each subject tapping all three components of subjective task value and cost (see Gaspard et al., 2014). To capture the multi-dimensionality of value beliefs, subfacets for attainment value (importance of achievement, personal importance) and utility value (utility for job, utility for daily life, utility for school, social utility) were assessed. Three subfacets of cost were included (emotional cost, effort required, opportunity cost).
Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test the dimensionality of value beliefs across subjects and age groups. There was strong measurement invariance of the factor structure across subjects as well as across age groups, allowing the examination of differences in latent means. There were notable mean differences across subjects with highest values as well as lowest cost for English and lowest values as well as highest cost for Physics. The pattern of age-related differences in mean levels generally was in line with the literature: Whereas students’ intrinsic, attainment, and utility value decreased with students’ age, subfacets of cost increased with students’ age. However, this pattern was not observed for all subfacets and in all subjects to the same extent. Whereas strong age-related differences were found for Physics, the patterns for the other subjects were more complex and facet-specific. In English, a particularly interesting pattern was observed with an increase in perceived cost being accompanied with an increase in some subfacets of utility value.
The findings highlight that examining multiple dimensions and subjects is crucial to fully understand the development of students’ value and cost beliefs. Results will be discussed with respect to the development of intraindividual hierarchies in values and cost across subjects.

Authors

• Benjamin Nagengast, University of Tübingen

• Hanna Gaspard, University of Tübingen

• Isabelle Häfner, University of Tübingen

• Ulrich Trautwein, University of Tubingen