Students' Motivational Trajectories in Demanding Math Courses and Links to Academic Success

• In Event: Understanding Developmental Processes in Students' Math- and Science-Related Expectancy-Value Beliefs: Why Short-Term Assessments Matter

Abstract

Purpose and Theoretical Framework
Students’ motivation is an important determinant of academic success and persistence in higher education (Robbins et al., 2004). However, only few studies grounded in expectancy-value theory (EVT, Eccles et al., 1983) have examined short-term changes in students’ motivations, e.g. over the course of a single semester (Kosovich et al., 2017; Perez et al., 2014). Furthermore, most studies have focused on psychology or teacher education courses and have neglected the cost component of EVT despite its critical role in students’ decision making (cf. Perez et al., 2014). Thus, we examined short-term changes in students’ expectancy-value beliefs in demanding math college courses that serve as a gateway to future success in math and science.

Methods
Study 1 followed six cohorts of students enrolled in first-semester required math courses for their math, physics, or math teacher education study program at a German university over one semester (N = 1,004). Students’ expectancies and valuing (interest, utility, effort and psychological cost) of the math courses were assessed at the beginning (week 2), midpoint (week 8), and end of the semester (week 15). Students reported their high-school GPA (M = 3.1, SD = 0.65) and gender (32% female) in week 2, and indicated their satisfaction with their study program in week 15. Final exam scores were obtained from the instructors.
Study 2 included weekly assessments of students’ expectancy-value beliefs in five of the six cohorts from Study 1. These assessments focused on the content of weekly mandatory worksheets (N = 773, weeks 2-5).

Results
Latent-Change analyses in Study 1 revealed a motivational shock from the beginning towards the middle of the semester, characterized by a rapid decline in students’ expected success, interest, and utility value (ΔM between –0.33 and –0.35), and an increase in effort and psychological cost (ΔM = 0.27 and 0.40, respectively). The additional motivational decline between the middle and the end of the semester was comparatively small (ΔM between –0.11 and 0.03). Controlling for GPA, gender, cohort and initial levels of motivation, the motivational shock was predictive of students’ final exam performance and study satisfaction (R2 = .48 and .70, respectively; Tables 1 and 2).
Piecewise latent growth curve models in Study 2 revealed that the initial motivational shock occurred between weeks 2 and 3, as a consequence of students’ first performance feedback on their mandatory worksheets (Figure 1). Gender differences in students’ motivational trajectories were negligible across both Studies, whereas students’ high-school GPA was a protective factor against the motivational decline.

Discussion
Analyses across both studies indicated that students’ expectancy-value beliefs change in non-linear fashion after the transition to higher education. As a consequence of their first performance feedback in demanding math classes, students across different cohorts and settings experienced a motivational shock in the very first weeks of the semester, which was a precursor to academic difficulties at the end of the semester. Not only long-term but also short-term changes in students’ motivations should be considered in the identification of at-risk-factors for academic struggles and potentially dropout.

Authors

• Daria Katharina Benden, TU Dortmund University

• Fani Lauermann, TU Dortmund University