Undergraduates often report problematic perceptions of low value and high cost in their initial science courses. These beliefs often predict poor performance and retention, and also strengthen over time. Few studies have examined how profiles of value and cost beliefs emerge, and fewer track students' transitions across profiles over a course and…

Educational science has consistently examined what drives adolescents to aspire to occupations in math-related fields -- and which factors, such as gender stereotypes, may drive them away. In this study, we utilized a large longitudinal data set (N = 1,092) to test whether past grades, gender, and the math level of mothers' and fathers'…

Guided by Pekrun's (2006) control-value theory of achievement emotions, we investigated the mediating role of control and value appraisals in the relations between students' perceptions of teaching and their academic emotions. To account for the highly fluctuating and dynamic nature of emotions, we used the experience sampling method complemented…

Students' perceptions of cost are important predictors of academic and motivational outcomes. Though cost has been described as the anticipated effort one must put forth on an activity and what an individual sacrifices to complete a task, no known work has examined the extent to which anticipated cost beliefs predict experienced cost or whether…

Students' expectancy-value beliefs play an important role in shaping their educational choices and behaviors. Drawing on Eccles and Wigfield 's (2020) situated expectancy-value theory, we investigated short-term changes in students' expectancy-value beliefs in gateway math courses for beginning university students. In Study 1a, we collected data…

The promotion of an adequate understanding of science is a central goal of science education, even in elementary school. In this study, we analyzed the effects of a recently developed science intervention program aimed at fostering the understanding of science as well as the motivation of elementary school--aged boys and girls. In prior research,…

Achievement motivation theories propose that student motivation is composed of multiple factors. Models of self-regulated learning adopt this assumption and further articulate that multiple metacognitive processes--planning, monitoring learning, and self-evaluation--are essential to guide progress toward a learning goal. Learners' motivations are…

Research has suggested mixed results regarding the relations between dimensions of ethnic-racial identity (ERI) and academic outcomes. Furthermore, little scholarship has explored the mechanisms that underlie these relations. In the current study, we investigated the longitudinal relations of 2 dimensions of ERI (embedded achievement, and ethnic…

This longitudinal study investigated development in expectancy for success (perceived competence), 3 types of task value (utility, interest, attainment), and 3 types of perceived cost (opportunity, effort, psychological) for engineering students during their first 2 years of college. Latent growth curve models indicated declines in expectancy and…

This study examines variation in moral judgment level as measured by the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT-2; J. R. Rest & D. Narvaez, 1998), based on individual demographic information and educational contexts. Individual DIT-2 scores and demographic information were obtained from the archived data sets housed at the Center for the Study of Ethical…

The Defining Issues Test (DIT) of moral judgment, a stage preference approach, is compared with the Moral Judgment Test (MJT) widely used in Europe. The MJT is a stage consistency test. Construct validity is defined in terms of seven types of studies, which support use of the stage preference approach. (SLD)

Apparently positive behaviors, such as praise, help-giving and pity, may indicate low estimation of ability to the student, and blame, relative neglect, and anger may be perceived by the recipient as high estimations of ability. These behaviors influence recipient self-perception and determine expectations, affective reactions and performance.…