Uncovering the Relations Among College Students' Expectancies, Task Values, Engagement, and STEM Course Outcomes

• In Event: "Yes We Can": Improving Equity in Education Through STEM Motivation and Engagement

Abstract

Objectives and Theoretical Framework
In the last thirty years, student engagement has received much attention as an important skill that is crucial for students’ school success. In fact, Sinatra, Heddy and Lombardi (2015) described student engagement as the “holy grail” of student learning and achievement because of its strong links to positive outcomes in and out of the classroom. Researchers have been interested in how students’ motivation and engagement relate to each other; however, few studies to date have examined the relations of the full set of proposed dimensions of engagement to students’ motivational beliefs and values. The purpose of this study is to assess these relations over time. The theoretical framework for the study is Eccles and colleagues’ (Eccles & Wigfield, 2020; Eccles (Parsons) et al., 1983) expectancy value theory of achievement motivation, which proposed that students’ motivational beliefs and values predict their engagement in achievement activities. We examined (1) how motivational beliefs, values, and engagement dimensions relate over time and whether they have a reciprocal relationship; and (2) whether engagement dimensions mediate the relationship between motivational beliefs, values, and math and science grades.

Methods
Students (Nwave1 = 486, Nwave2 = 516, NT = 741) were recruited from introductory math and science courses at a large public university and were asked to complete a survey about their motivation and engagement in their math or science course at the beginning of the semester and again after their mid-terms. Students responded to items assessing their competence-related beliefs, different aspects of task value, along with behavioral, emotional, cognitive, social, agentic engagement and behavioral and emotional disaffection. Students’ end of semester grades was also obtained for the class from where they were recruited.

Results
Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we conducted cross-lagged models to explore the relations between competence-related beliefs and engagement dimensions and between each component of task values and engagement dimensions. We found four significant reciprocal relations among the motivation constructs and engagement dimensions (see Figures 1-4). There was a negative reciprocal relation of behavioral disaffection with intrinsic value and also with utility value. Emotional disaffection and utility for future were reciprocally related and this illustrates an interesting possible feedback loop in which the direction of the effect is determined by whether disaffection or motivation develops first. Finally, there was a positive reciprocal relationship between utility for future and social engagement.
We also used SEM to test for mediation (see Tables 1-9). Behavioral and cognitive engagement mediated the relationship between all the task values and grades. Emotional engagement was also found to be a significant mediator for many of the motivation constructs. Social and agentic engagement were not significant mediators for any of the models.

Significance
Results provide the first look at longitudinal relations between key motivational beliefs and values and dimensions of engagement. They have implications for the AERA theme of increasing equity among students; specifically, they suggest that interventions designed to enhance students’ engagement in STEM sometimes should initially target aspects of engagement, and sometimes motivational beliefs and values.

Authors

• Jessica R Gladstone, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Allan L. Wigfield, University of Maryland - College Park