Student Responsiveness to Relevance Interventions in Math: Antecedents and Consequences

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: Motivation in Education SIG Poster Session: Contextual Factors, Teacher Motivation, and Motivational Interventions (San Diego)

Abstract

Relevance interventions have shown positive effects on motivation and achievement. Yet, further research is warranted to examine how these interventions can be tailored to different students and to better understand the underlying processes. This study therefore aimed to investigate antecedents and consequences of student responsiveness to the intervention materials (i.e., students’ ratings of personal relevance of these materials) utilized in a relevance intervention in 52 math classrooms. Student characteristics predicted student responsiveness to the intervention materials in line with expectations. Furthermore, higher responsiveness was associated with more positive changes in perceived utility value. This study thus yields important knowledge for personalizing the intervention materials to individual students and contributes to identifying the processes through which relevance interventions work.

Authors

• Hanna Gaspard, TU Dortmund University

• Cora Parrisius, Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Tübingen

• Ulrich Trautwein, University of Tubingen

• Benjamin Nagengast, University of Tübingen