Question

Given the Expectancy-Value Theory of Achievement Motivation, how is it possible to evaluate the impact of value beliefs and expectancy for success on students' choices to majoring in mathematics or philosophy using statistics?

Answer 1

Expectancies are specific beliefs individuals have regarding their success on certain tasks they will carry out in the short-term future or long-term future. The expectancies an individual has shaped their behaviors as well as the choices they make. For example, a high school student might believe that they really struggle on standardized tests. This leads them to expect that they will perform poorly on the SAT. These beliefs then impact their actual performance on the SAT. These expectancies are tied to concepts such as self-concept and self-efficacy. Self-concept is a broad concept that involves one's beliefs about their own abilities to reach their goals.

In the description of the development of the Expectancy Value Theory, the
applications for this study are discussed. The two models shown in figure are based on the
previous discussed theory. Institutional factors, such as course outline, structure, didactical approach, duration, assessment
methods, and class size play a role. Individual factors are self-confidence, previous statistics
experience, school career, perceptions of mastery of statistics, and background characteristics. Both
groups of indicators are assumed to influence course outcomes through attitudes toward statistics.
These attitudes reflect upon certain leaning motivation and, in that sense, influence learning
outcomes.

In hindsight the Expectancy Value model developed for this study can explain achievement
related choices by means of individual factors, expectancies, and effort. In general attitudes toward statistics contribute to
student achievement, but the effects found were not very big. Most importantly, institutional
factors did not prove to be good predictors of achievement. This was mainly caused by the nature
of those factors. Being measured at different hierarchical levels, individual and institutional factors
are not easily combined without the use of multilevel tools. The special position of effort has been made visible in several ways. First of all, effort mediates the effect of the other attitudes on student outcomes and it therefore maintains its special
position. Furthermore, it turned out that effort refers to ‘more active learning behavior’ rather than the other five attitude components that refer to ‘beliefs’.