Motivational Beliefs Research Articles

How often and when teachers should teach with challenging tasks: the role of motivational beliefs

How often and when teachers should teach with challenging tasks: the role of motivational beliefs

Achievement at what cost? An intersectional approach to assessing race and gender differences in adolescent math motivation and achievement

Given math-related fields are still highly racialized and gendered (NCSES, 2021), this study assessed: 1) whether there were racial differences in adolescents’ perceived math cost alongside expectancies and values and 2) the extent to which perceived math cost alongside expectancies and values explained yearly changes in achievement differences by race and gender. This study assessed 2,338 Black (39.4 %) and White (60.6 %) adolescents, roughly half girls (47.8 %), in the 6th to 12th grades (M = 14.71 years old, SD = 1.93, 61.7 % qualifying for free or reduced priced lunch). The results indicated that Black adolescents perceived higher costs to learning math than their White peers but value math in similar ways. Perceived math cost was the only motivational belief to explain achievement differences between Black and White girls but not boys after adjusting for socioeconomic status and grade level. In contrast, perceptions of ability beliefs explained achievement differences between Black boys and girls. These findings point to the importance of employing intersectional approaches to understand the relationship between math motivation and achievement.

Exploring Motivational Beliefs And Learning Approach Among Undergraduates Students

Exploring Motivational Beliefs And Learning Approach Among Undergraduates Students

Motivating Tacit Knowledge Sharing: The Role of Perceived Value of Knowledge and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Purpose: This study investigates the challenge of retaining and sharing tacit knowledge during employee transitions in organizations, with a specific focus on software developers' motivations. We examine two key motivational beliefs: the perceived value of knowledge and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and their influence on sharing intentions. Additionally, we explore how these beliefs shape attitudes, subsequently affecting intentions regarding tacit knowledge sharing. Theoretical Framework: Grounded in the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), our research underscores the pivotal role of beliefs in shaping attitudes and intentions related to tacit knowledge sharing. Beliefs, encompassing the Perceived Value of Knowledge and OCB, play a significant role in molding attitudes. Using structural equation modeling, we analyze data collected from 197 software developers, employing confirmatory factor analysis to validate our measurement model and structural model analysis to explore relationships. Findings: Our findings indicate that software developers are indeed willing to share their tacit knowledge, with their willingness positively influenced by the perceived value of tacit knowledge and engagement in OCB. Attitudes towards sharing tacit knowledge act as mediators in the relationship between these beliefs and sharing intentions. Implications: In practical terms, organizations can foster tacit knowledge sharing by promoting positive attitudes, recognizing knowledge's perceived value, and cultivating a culture that encourages OCB. This facilitates a conducive environment for sharing, further enhanced by acknowledging and rewarding employees who exhibit OCB. Theoretical implications align with the Theory of Reasoned Action, emphasizing the role of attitude in shaping intentions. Our research contributes uniquely by exploring the underrepresented relationship between perceived knowledge value and tacit knowledge sharing, introducing a novel approach by examining the combined impact of OCB and perceived value. These insights are valuable for organizations looking to cultivate a culture of tacit knowledge sharing, driving innovation and enhancing performance.

Exploring Motivational Beliefs and Learning Approaches among Undergraduates Students

Exploring Motivational Beliefs and Learning Approaches among Undergraduates Students

The Influence of Motivational Beliefs on Self-Regulated Learning Strategies: The Case for ESL Learners

The Influence of Motivational Beliefs on Self-Regulated Learning Strategies: The Case for ESL Learners

The Effect of Perceived Parenting Styles on Self-Regulated Learning Strategies and Motivational Beliefs

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of perceived parenting styles on self-regulated learning strategies and motivational beliefs. The participants were 350 eighth grade students in a primary school. Perceived parenting styles were determined by utilizing the Parenting Styles Scale developed by Lamborn, Mounts, Steinberg and Dornbusch (1991). The students’ self-regulated learning strategies and motivational beliefs were measured using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire developed by Pintrich and De Groot (1990). The results revealed that those dimensions of self-regulated learning related to the intrinsic value of study, self efficacy, cognitive and metacognitive self-regulated learning strategies were influenced by parenting styles. Students with authoritative parents were found to use more self-regulated learning strategies than those with authoritarian, indulgent and neglectful parents. However, the students with indulgent parents were found to use more cognitive and metacognitive strategies than those with authoritarian and neglectful parents. This study also indicated that the self-efficacy of students with authoritative parents is higher than that found among the students with indulgent, authoritarian and neglectful parents; and they experience less test anxiety than do the students with authoritarian parents.

The Relation of Students’ Conceptions of Feedback to Motivational Beliefs and Achievement Goals: Comparing Chinese International Students to New Zealand Domestic Students in Higher Education

Extant research on students’ feedback conceptions has reported effects on performance, but the relationship of feedback conceptions to important motivational factors is not empirically evidenced. This study fills this gap by providing empirical data about students’ conceptions of feedback in relation to their motivational beliefs and achievement goals. Measurement and structural modelling analyses were based on undergraduate student data from New Zealand domestic (n = 832) and Chinese (People’s Republic of China, PRC) international students (n = 504) in New Zealand universities. Based on cross-ethnic invariant measurement models of conceptions of feedback, motivational beliefs, and achievement goals, a structural equation model uncovered links between feedback conceptions, motivational beliefs, and achievement goals. Specifically, feedback conceptions believing in actively using feedback and the value of teacher comments significantly promoted self-efficacy and task value beliefs, as well as mastery and performance-approach goals. In contrast, maladaptive feedback perceptions (i.e., feedback is ignored or used for judging performance against external standards or relative to others) had a minimal-to-negative impact on motivational beliefs and triggered stronger performance-avoidance goals. This study empirically demonstrates that conceptions of feedback support motivational beliefs and goal approaches consistent with previous claims concerning their self-regulatory role.

Analysis of Relation of High School Students Math and Science Motivational Belief and Their Subsequent STEM Major Choice in College and the Gender Difference

Expectancy-value theory and Dimensional comparison theory were used to design the instrument of this research. This study examines the relationship between the grade twelfth (G12) high school students math and science motivational belief and their STEM major choice in college. Additionally, this study examined how math and science motivational beliefs and STEM outcomes varied by gender. This research is conducted by 30 secondary students who is the twelfth grade students and participates into the entrance of university examination in Guangzhou China through questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed by qualitative method structural equation modeling with SPSS and Python to modeling the variables to find the coefficients. From the SEM analysis, it is shown that confidence in acquiring skill in mathematics (0.35) and science (0.08) enables G12 students to choose empirical major but not math-intensive STEM college major such as engineering, agriculture or medicine. Meanwhile, the anxiety of the mathematics score (-0.02) and the science score (0.29) present that students are highly involved in their related subject studies even though they suffer academic pressure. According to the broken-line analysis, students consider mathematics mostly as a benefit to future university study (3.65), and science is more for daily life function (3.71). Lastly, it is proposed that the male performs better than the female but there is no apparent gender difference in STEM performance.

Orchestrating listening in EMI university lectures: how listening proficiency and motivation shape students’ use of metacognitive listening strategies

Abstract Recent research has called for cultivating strategic learners in globally expanding English medium instruction (EMI) university programs, so as to help them effectively orchestrate resources to handle the challenging task of learning subject knowledge through an L2. EMI studies exploring students’ strategies have thus far primarily categorized strategy types, with scant research investigating what key learner variables affect their strategic choices. This study focuses on students’ use of metacognitive listening strategies during EMI lectures, and explores how their strategic preferences differ across three groups of English listening proficiency and are influenced by motivational beliefs of self-efficacy, goal orientation, and task value. Results of ANOVA tests and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis of students’ questionnaire responses (N = 412) revealed significant variations in strategy types across different proficiency levels. Although students were found to be highly motivated by extrinsic goals and utility-based task values, these motivational beliefs failed to significantly predict any metacognitive strategy use. Both intrinsic learning goals and self-efficacy significantly predicted the use of directed attention, problem solving, and plan-evaluation strategies, highlighting the pedagogical needs to foster these motivational beliefs of students in EMI university programs to help them become strategic and independent listeners in academic lectures.

Efficacy for writing self-regulation, attitude toward writing, and quality of second grade students' writing.

Motivational beliefs, such as writing self-efficacy and attitude toward writing, are believed to foster or hinder writing by influencing if one chooses to write, how much effort is committed to writing, and what cognitive resources writers apply. In the current study, we examined self-efficacy for writing self-regulation and attitude toward writing of 2,124 Grade 2 Norwegian students (1,069 girls; 1,055 boys). We investigated if there were differences in each of these beliefs between girls and boys and students who differed in their language status (Norwegian first language, Norwegian and another language both first language, or language other than Norwegian first language). We further tested if each of these writing motivational beliefs made statistically unique contributions to predicting the quality of students' writing. In each of these analyses, we controlled for variance related to individual- and school factors. Girls were more positive about writing than boys, and they were confident about their abilities to self-regulate writing. Students with Norwegian and another language both as first language ("bilingual" students) had a more positive attitude toward writing than the other two language groups. Efficacy for writing self-regulation and attitude toward writing both made statistically significant unique contributions to predicting the quality of students writing, although these two writing beliefs collectively accounted for just 2% of the variance in writing quality scores once individual- and school-factors were controlled. Recommendations for future research and implications of the finding are discussed.

A Growth Mindset Message Leads Parents to Choose More Challenging Learning Activities.

Prior research has shown that the home learning environment (HLE) is critical in the development of spatial skills and that various parental beliefs influence the HLE. However, a comprehensive analysis of the impact of different parental beliefs on the spatial HLE remains lacking, leaving unanswered questions about which specific parental beliefs are most influential and whether inducing a growth mindset can enhance the spatial HLE. To address these gaps, we conducted an online study with parents of 3- to 5-year-olds. We found that parents' growth mindset about their children's ability strongly predicted the spatial HLE after controlling for parents' motivational beliefs about their children, beliefs about their own ability, children's age, children's gender, and family SES. Further, reading an article about growth mindset led parents to choose more challenging spatial learning activities for their children. These findings highlight the critical role of parents' growth mindset in the spatial HLE. Crucially, these findings demonstrate that general growth mindset messages without specific suggestions for parental practices can influence parental behavior intentions. Further, these effects were also observed in the control domain of literacy, underscoring the broad relevance of the growth mindset in the HLE.

Person-centred study on higher-order interactions between students' motivational beliefs and metacognitive self-regulation: Links with school language achievement.

Variable-centred studies assume that the links between motivation and metacognition with academic achievement are uniform across all students. However, this assumption may not hold and multiple interactions between motivational beliefs and metacognitive self-regulation may occur. To this end, the present study sought to explore these higher-order interactions and their links with school language achievement in a low-performance context. A large sample (N = 1046, 53.14% girls) of Greek secondary school students (M = 13.97, SD = .80) was drawn. Latent profile analyses were deployed to mimic higher-order interactions. Unexpectedly, the results indicated only three distinct well-defined profiles of students' motivated metacognitive self-regulation, namely exceptional motivation and metacognitive self-regulation (23.3%), adequate motivation and metacognitive self-regulation (48.2%), and minimal motivation and metacognitive self-regulation (28.5%). Incompatible profiles of motivation and metacognitive self-regulation did not emerge, contrary to previous findings suggesting negative higher-order interactions. The BCH method revealed large mean differences in school language achievement between the profiles, adjusting for covariates. Latent multinomial logistic regression indicated that gender and age predicted greater odds of membership to the minimal motivation and metacognitive self-regulation profile. Socio-economic status and spoken language at home predicted less chances of membership to the minimal profile only. Educational interventions are needed to target both motivational beliefs and metacognition to prevent underachievement.

Predictors of short-term trajectories of students’ expectancy-value motivational beliefs in introductory calculus courses

In the present study, we examined the rate of change among college students’ (N = 429) competence beliefs, interest value, importance value, and four facets of cost measured weekly across a semester of two introductory calculus courses. We also examined how baseline levels of expectancy-value motivational beliefs predicted initial levels and rates of change in weekly expectancy-value beliefs. Results suggested that competence-related beliefs, interest value, and importance value decreased weekly throughout the semester, whereas outside effort and loss of valued alternatives cost increased. Additionally, baseline levels of each task-value-related construct predicted initial weekly levels of their respective constructs, but did not generally predict changes in task values over time. Conversely, baseline competence-related beliefs predicted slower declines in weekly competence-related beliefs, as well as slower declines in importance value and slower increases in outside effort cost, loss of valued alternatives cost, and emotional cost. Finally, baseline importance value predicted larger increases in weekly cost beliefs for all four dimensions of cost that were examined. Together, findings point to the importance of providing early course supports to buffer students against motivational challenges that threaten course participation and performance. Findings also suggest that students’ initial levels of competence-related beliefs are an important buffer against introductory course motivation declining across a semester, whereas initial importance value may have both positive and negative motivational consequences.

Patterns of African American parents' educational involvement: associations with adolescents' academic performance and motivational beliefs.

The current study used survey data from 786 African American mother-adolescent (M = 12.29 years; 48% female) dyads to examine profiles of 7th-grade parental educational involvement and their associations with adolescents' 11th-grade academic performance, academic self-concept, and educational aspirations. Using latent profile analyses, four patterns emerged: (a) Low Involvers; (b) Helpers, Low Providers; (c) Providers, Low Helpers; and (d) More Involved Helpers and Providers. The More Involved Helpers and Providers had adolescents with higher grades than the Helpers, Low Providers and the Low Involvers. The Providers, Low Helpers also had adolescents with higher educational aspirations than other profiles except for the More Involved Helpers and Providers. Findings suggest multiple pathways through which African American parents can enhance adolescents' academic outcomes.

What are the effects of formative assessment on students’ science learning motivational beliefs and behaviours? Comparison between Western and East Asian learners

ABSTRACT Formative assessment has been long emphasised as a powerful means for enhancing science learning. However, there is still a lack of research to investigate the impacts of formative assessment on both students’ motivational beliefs and behaviours in science learning. This study examined such impacts using data from six Western and six East Asian countries/economies in PISA 2015. 96,491 15-year-old students were included. The SEM analysis of overall data showed that (i) formative assessment had both direct effects on students’ science learning behaviours and indirect impacts mediated by students’ motivational beliefs and (ii) the total effect of teacher feedback on science learning behaviours was greater than adaptive instruction. The comparison between Western and East Asian datasets indicated that (i) the impact of teacher feedback on East Asian students’ motivational beliefs was greater than that on their Western counterparts, (ii) the impact of adaptive instruction on Western students’ motivational beliefs was greater than that on East Asian counterparts, and (iii) the direct impacts of teacher feedback and adaptive instruction on science learning behaviours were similar for both groups of students. Suggestions were made on how to effectively implement formative assessment to enhance science learning in different cultural contexts.

Supporting self-regulated learning in a secondary applied mathematics course

<p>This study examines how one teacher supported low-achieving students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) in the context of a secondary mathematics class. The teacher’s scaffolding provided students with multiple opportunities to use feedback and adapt learning and study strategies. Data compared pre- and postmeasures of metacognitive skills, motivational beliefs, and learning and study behaviours, and examined the effects of directed practice on students’ developing SRL as well as their mathematics achievement. Results suggest the need for more research into the effects of individualized, targeted supports, particularly in assisting students in using metacognitive feedback to adapt learning strategies.</p>

Impact of a Mathematics Bridging Course on the Motivation and Learning Skills of University Students

AbstractThe transition from secondary to tertiary education is an exciting and yet challenging event in the educational biography of students. During this transition, students often meet with unexpected challenges, which may cause them to drop out from their degree program. Many universities offer bridging courses or longer-term interventions to support their incoming students in this period. To examine the effect of a bridging course designed to reduce gaps in prior mathematical knowledge, promote social-emotional well-being, and foster learning skills, we implement a repeated-measures intervention study. We analyze the outcomes of the intervention, which features tutors with special training, autonomous choice of topic areas, peer learning, and materials for self-directed learning. We measure the development of motivational beliefs reflecting the will to learn (achievement goals, satisfaction of basic psychological needs, implicit theories, self-efficacy) and the skills to learn (reactions to errors, self-regulated learning) at the secondary-tertiary transition. These aspects are captured at multiple measurement points among students (N = 679) who participate in the bridging course (intervention group) and those who do not (control group). The intervention boosts motivational beliefs related to social embeddedness and learning skills in the short term. The observed decrease in autonomy, competence, and self-efficacy might be explained by higher standards that students use for their self-assessment in the new peer group. In the long term, all aspects of the will to learn, except for social relatedness, show stable to strongly negative developments in both groups. Among those students who do not participate in the bridging course, mostly strongly negative developments are observed. The results suggest that the peer tutoring strategy is highly effective and the need for longer-term interventions to uphold the positive short-term effects.

A study on the mechanisms of teachers' academic emotions and motivational beliefs on learning engagement in the context of online training.

In the context of digital transformation of education, online training is one of the important ways for teachers to improve their professionalism and promote the quality of education. However, studies have shown that teachers' online training suffers from insufficient learning engagement and other problems, so it is crucial to explore the factors influencing teachers' learning engagement and their mechanisms of action in the context of online training. Taking 589 teachers who participated in online training as the research subjects, the study used the methods of survey research and statistical analysis to explore the influence mechanism of teachers' academic emotions and motivational beliefs on online learning engagement based on the dual perspectives of control value theory and expectancy-value theory. The study found that: (1) positive-high arousal academic emotions, training self-efficacy, and training task value significantly and positively predicted online learning engagement, respectively; (2) negative-high arousal and negative-low arousal academic emotions significantly and negatively predicted online learning engagement; (3) training self-efficacy and training task value mediated the relationship between positive-high arousal academic emotions, negative-high arousal academic emotions, negative-low arousal academic emotions and online learning engagement, respectively. The study concluded that by creating an immersive learning environment based on the educational meta universe, personalized and precise training based on big data and adaptive technologies, and establishing a multi-dimensional and three-dimensional online learning support service system, which can effectively improve teachers' online learning engagement and enhance their online training quality and effectiveness.

The cost of being first: Belonging uncertainty predicts math motivation and achievement for first-generation, but not continuing-generation, students

Compared to continuing-generation students, first-generation college students face additional barriers to their sense of belonging in STEM disciplines and at selective institutions. We examined first-generation (N = 1293) and continuing-generation (N = 2150) students' perceptions of belonging uncertainty, math motivation, and math achievement at eight research and comprehensive universities. Results of the multigroup structural equation analyses suggested that first-generation students who had higher belonging uncertainty reported lower success expectancies and higher perceived costs for math. Less adaptive math motivational beliefs, in turn, predicted lower math achievement for first-generation students. For continuing-generation students, belonging uncertainty was unrelated to math expectancies, value, costs, and achievement. The multigroup analyses revealed significant differences in how expectancies and costs mediated the relationship between belonging uncertainty and math achievement for first-generation versus continuing-generation students. Results have implications for narrowing social class equity gaps in selective institutions and diversifying STEM. Educational relevance statementFirst-year college students commonly experience uncertainties about the quality of their relationships and social ties (i.e., belonging uncertainty), particularly in competitive academic environments. We examined belonging uncertainty, motivational beliefs, and achievement among first-time, first-year students enrolled in a math course in eight competitive higher education institutions. Findings revealed that for first-generation students, compared to continuing-generation students, belonging uncertainty more negatively and strongly predicted math motivation, and in turn, math achievement. These findings highlight the importance of designing belonging interventions that particularly support first-generation students' college experience as uncertainties about belonging had more negative consequences for this population. Our research has implications for narrowing equity gaps between first-generation and continuing-generation students in selective universities.