The Role of the Situation in Situated Expectancy-Value Theory: Cross-Classified Analyses of Students’ Test-Specific Motivations

• In Event: Situated Expectancy-Value Theory and Undergraduate STEM Retention: Novel Approaches to Enduring Questions

Abstract

Students’ math-related expectancy-value beliefs are important predictors of their achievement and persistence in math-intensive fields. Building upon situated expectancy-value theory, this study examined the role of personal characteristics, situational characteristics, and Person-by-Situation interactions in shaping students’ situation-specific motivations during a statewide math test for first-year students in math-intensive college programs (N=3,213). Cross-classified random effects models revealed that students’ prior opportunities to learn math and prior achievement boosted their test-specific motivations, independent of students’ actual test performance. Female students were more at risk to underrate their performance. Person-by-Situation interactions between personal (prior achievement, learning opportunities) and situational characteristics (test performance, test difficulty) on students’ motivations highlight the need for targeted interventions to counteract negative prior experiences for at-risk students in STEM.

Authors

• Daria Katharina Benden, University of Bonn

• Fani Lauermann, University of Bonn