Early-Year Undergraduate Researchers' Reflections on the Values of Their Research Experience

• In Event: Investigating the Role of Research, Career Development, and Other High-Impact Practices in Higher Education

Abstract

Prior research reported that motivational beliefs predict continuing interest and persistence in the task. A motivational approach may be particularly useful for understanding undergraduate students’ engagement with research. The current study utilizes the expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation to explore how much and in what ways undergraduate researchers value their research experience in their first and second years in college. The results revealed that intrinsic value had the highest expression in participants’ motivation to engage in research, followed by utility and attainment value. Even though participants’ discussion on each value type revealed an increase in their sophomore year, there was a substantial rise in the amount of discussion on the utility value of their research experience.

Authors

• Gaye D. Ceyhan, Bogazici University

• John W. Tillotson, Syracuse University