Uncovering the Relations Among College Students' Expectancies
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ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: Uncovering the Relations Among College Students’ Expectancies, Task Values, Engagement, and STEM Course Outcomes Jessica R. Gladstone, Doctor of Philosophy, 2020 Dissertation directed by: Professor Allan Wigfield Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology In the last thirty years, student engagement has received much attention as an important contributor to students’ school success. One major limitation of the research on student engagement is that there is not a widely accepted theory regarding what constitutes it and how it relates to motivation. In the present study I examined relations of college students’ motivational beliefs and task values (as defined in Eccles and colleagues’ expectancy-value theory, EVT) to proposed dimensions of their engagement: behavioral, cognitive, social, agentic, and behavioral and emotional disaffection. In particular, I examined: (1) empirical overlap among certain dimensions of engagement and task value constructs; (2) which EVT constructs are associated with which dimensions of engagement; (3) how motivational beliefs, values, and engagement dimensions relate over time; and (4) whether engagement dimensions mediate the relationship between motivational beliefs, values, and math and science grades. Students (Ntime1 = 486, Ntime2 = 516) were recruited from a large public university and then completed surveys about their motivation and engagement in their introductory math or science course twice, at the beginning of the semester and again after mid-terms examinations. Findings indicated that although there were strong associations among certain engagement dimensions and task value constructs, structural equation model fit indices indicated that these should be treated as separate constructs. Regression analyses showed that in general, students’ competence beliefs and values were associated with behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement and behavioral and emotional disaffection dimensions. However, the relations between the motivational variables and social and agentic engagement were weak or non-significant. Cross-lagged panel analyses indicated that some relations among task values and engagement dimensions were reciprocal over time, but more often motivation predicted engagement rather than the reverse. Students’ behavioral and cognitive engagement were strong mediators of the relations between their task values and domain-specific grades in math and science. I conclude from these results that (at least for college-aged students) certain engagement constructs should be integrated more fully into the well-established expectancy-value model; however, future research is needed to ensure that these relations hold across different domains. ©Copyright by Jessica R. Gladstone 2020 Uncovering the Relations Among College Students’ Expectancies, Task Values, Engagement, and STEM Course Outcomes by Jessica R. Gladstone Dissertation to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2020 Advisory Committee: Professor Allan Wigfield, Chair Professor Patricia Alexander Professor Lucas Butler Professor Mariam Jean Dreher Professor Ji Seung Yang Acknowledgements I am so incredibly grateful to have had the support, encouragement and guidance from so many amazing and inspiring people throughout graduate school and during the completion of my dissertation. I would like to first thank my advisor and mentor, Dr. Allan Wigfield. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to come to the University of Maryland and for allowing me to work with such an amazing scholar and person. You have taught me so much and your passion for motivation research can clearly be seen in your work and in your mentoring. I am so grateful that I had such an encouraging, supportive, and engaged mentor. I would also like to thank my amazing dissertation committee members, Drs. Patricia Alexander, Lucas Butler, Mariam Jean Dreher, and Ji Seung Yang, for not only providing me with thoughtful feedback but also for your guidance throughout my time at UMD. Patricia Alexander, you have been a role model and mentor to me since I arrived at Maryland. You challenged me, listened to me, and supported me. You are such an inspiration and I am so thankful to have had you on my committee. Lucas Butler, thank you for always being so thoughtful in your questions and comments. Ji Seung, you have been an amazing mentor for me, and your continual encouragement has really helped push my statistics knowledge to the next level. Additionally, I would like to thank my previous mentor, Dr. Sam Mathews. Sam, your encouragement throughout my undergraduate career is a huge part of why I am where I am today. I could not have done it without you! Next, I would like to thank all of the math and science professors, as well as the Registrar’s Office, for working with me to administer my dissertation study. I would like ii to also thank the University of Maryland College of Education for providing me with funding for this project. I am also thankful for the students who participated in my research. Additionally, I am forever grateful for the HDQM staff. I also want to thank all of the current, former, and honorary members of the Motivation in Education Research Group, particularly Katie Muenks, Emily Rosenzweig, Lara Faust, Annette Ponnock, Monica Morell, and Marguerite Tom-Wigfield. Katie, Emily, Lara, and Annette, thank you all so much for your support and guidance! Monica, thank you for going through this dissertation phase with me and helping me with all my statistics questions! Marguerite, I will always be grateful to have had your constant love and support for all of us in MERG. Finally, I would like to thank my amazing family and friends, I wouldn’t be here without you! A special thank you to my incredible husband who has been my biggest supporter and a huge inspiration to me. Your constant love and encouragement mean the world to me. I am also thankful to our dogs, Yadi and Kona, who never fail to put a smile on my face. I would also like to give a huge thank you to my amazing mother who has always believed in me and has helped me reach each of my dreams. Thank you to my loving stepfather, Rob, and my brother and sister, whose hard work and tenacity has always been an inspiration. Finally, thank you to my late father, I know you would be proud of me. iii Table of Contents Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………….. ii List of Tables……………………………………………………………………… vi List of Figures……………………………………………………………………... xi Chapter 1: Introduction…………………………………………………………. 1 Statement of Problem………………………………………………………….. 1 Expectancy-Value Theory……………………………………………………... 3 EVT- Based Research on the Relations of Motivation and Engagement……… 6 Purpose of the Proposed Study and Research Hypotheses/Question………….. 8 Dissertation Contributions……………………………………………………... 13 Definition of Terms……………………………………………………………. 15 Chapter 2: Literature Review…………………………………………………... 19 Student Engagement…………………………………………………………… 19 Defining Student Engagement and its Dimensions……………………………. 23 Different Views on How Distinct Engagement and Motivation Are………….. 33 Expectancy-Value Theory and Student Engagement………………………….. 37 Relations of Competence-Related Beliefs, Task Values and Engagement……. 41 Relations of Competence-Related Beliefs, Task Values and Engagement to Outcomes………………………………………………………………………. 44 Specificity of Measurement of Student Engagement………………………….. 48 Overall Summary and Contributions of the Present Study…………………….. 49 Chapter 3: Methods……………………………………………………………… 53 Participants…………………………………………………………………….. 53 Materials/Measures…………………………………………………………….. 55 Procedure………………………………………………………………………. 63 Pre-Data Analytic Decisions…………………………………………………… 63 Data Analysis Plan……………………………………………………………... 65 Chapter 4: Results……………………………………………………………….. 78 Missing Data…………………………………………………………………… 78 Descriptive Statistics…………………………………………………………... 80 Hypotheses 1A-1B……………………………………………………………... 85 Hypotheses 2A-2C……………………………………………………………... 87 Hypothesis 3…………………………………………………………………… 146 Research Question……………………………………………………………... 192 Chapter 5: Discussion……………………………………………………………. 211 Hypothesis 1…………………………………………………………………… 213 Hypothesis 2…………………………………………………………………… 217 Hypothesis 3…………………………………………………………………… 225 Research Question……………………………………………………………... 235 Theoretical Implications……………………………………………………….. 238 iv Educational Implications………………………………………………………. 242 Limitations……………………………………………………………………... 244 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………...... 245 Appendix A……………………………………………………………………... 247 Supplemental Materials……………………………………………………….. 251 References……………...…………………………………………………………. 261 v List of Tables Table 1. Missing Data Information for all Variables 79 Table 2. Descriptive Statistics for all Variables 82 Table 3. Correlations between All Variables (EAP Scores) for Time Point One 83 Table 4. Correlations between All Variables (EAP Scores) for Time Point Two 84 Table 5. Model Fit Indices for the Tested Structural Models of Emotional 87 Disaffection and Emotional Cost Table 6. Model Fit Indices for the Tested Structural Models of Emotional 87 Engagement and Intrinsic Value Table 7. Associations with Behavioral Engagement by Each Construct 92 Individually (Controlling for Gender and Ethnicity) Table 8. Associations with Cognitive Engagement by Each Construct 93 Individually (Controlling for Gender and Ethnicity) Table 9. Associations with Emotional