Literature Review: Understanding middle school students' motivation in math class: The expectancy-value model perspective

The following is a review of Eyup Yurt's study on how the expectancy-value theory of motivation correlates with math performance among 200 middle school students.  

          Yurt introduces his research by arguing that there are cognitive, environmental, and emotional factors that influence mathematical performance among middle school aged children and that motivation is among the biggest emotional factors and therefore should be examined (Yurt, 2017 p.289).  One theory that attempts to define motivation is the Expectancy-value theory.  This theory defines expectancy as the probability of behavior that an individual performs to attain a goal, at value is defined as how important the goal is to the individual (Yurt, 2015, p. 289).  

          Yurt then identifies four major sub-categories of value.  The first,  Attainment Value/Importance relates to how important the task is to the concept of self (Yurt, 2015, p. 289).  This is when a student is motivated to do well because it will give them a feeling of status, or believe that doing well in math means they are seen a certain way by others.  The second sub-category is Intrinsic Value, which describes that motivation can come from enjoyment of solving a difficult task (Yurt, 2015, p. 289).  These are the students we see that genuinely take pleasure in persevering and problem solving.  These are our students like enjoy solving puzzles.  Extrinsic Value is the fourth, which is defined by motivation that is caused by not directly achieving the goal, but seeing the goal as one that leads to another goal that has more value (Yurt, 2015, p. 290).  These are the students that are motivated by prizes and rewards for doing well and trying hard.  Finally, there is a category of motivation called Perceived Cost that measures an individual's perception of effort they have to do to complete a task (Yurt, 2015, p. 290).  Basically, this category of value explains how an individual judges whether the benefits of completing the task is worth the extra time and effort.  If a student perceives that the math goal is too difficult and cannot be obtained within a reasonable amount of effort, then this represents their perception of cost.

            The procedure for this study involves a 19-point Likert-type questionnaire that measures students' perception of the four sub-categories of value as well as Task Difficulty and Required Effort.  These 6 variables were then compared to the students' math performance scores that were based on averaging each student's final three exams of the term. Expectancy scores were defined as the culmination of Task Difficulty, Intrinsic Interest Value, and Attainment Value/Importance.  The purpose of these procedures is to see how the variables correlate with math performance (Yurt, 2015, p. 291).

           The results are somewhat difficult to interpret without an advanced degree in statistics, however, the most significant finding is that expectancy was shown to be the strongest indicator of performance (Yurt, 2015, p, 293).  Task difficulty and math performance show a negative correlation, whereas required effort has a positive correlation with math performance (Yurt, 2015, p. 294).  Task difficulty and required effort are both perceptions of cost, however it is interesting that one has a negative correlation and the other has a positive correlation with math performance.  Yurt explains that a student who expects to succeed in a task is willing to put forth the required effort if they believe the task is attainable in the first place (Yurt, 2015, p. 294).  This explanation is supported by the expectancy-value theory that individuals need to believe that the task is obtainable AND have motivation to complete the task. The author also argues that students with high levels of expectancy also share a common perception that success in math requires a lot of effort.  Yurt concludes that expectancy and intrinsic interest value have positive, and direct correlations with math performance, whereas task difficulty has a negative direct effect on math performance (Yurt, 2015, p. 294).

Implications to my study:

The expectancy-value theory has been an interest of mine since I began researching math intervention strategies.  I very much appreciate how Yurt defines expectancy and value in this study as I think it is important to understand all the factors that influence a student's motivation in math.  I find that many students in my Tier-2 classes are motivated by their perception of cost and extrinsic values.  I might have a couple "puzzle addicts" that genuinely like the gritty work of problem solving (Intrinsic Interest), however it is not always easy for those students to apply this to a grade level algebraic problem solving method that requires the acquisition of new skills and understand symbols that represent abstract concepts.

The biggest take away that I have from reviewing this study is that in order for a student to succeed in math, they must understand that it takes effort yet believe that the task is still obtainable.  In my study, I want to provide students with choices of how to engage in the content, which should enable the students to feel as though the task is more obtainable and the required effort is reasonable.  Math is difficult and task difficulty might not be able to be reduced with my population of students.  However, my hope is that students will improve by believing that it is possible and feel confident that the required effort is worth it in order to improve math performance levels. 

References:

Yurt, E. (2015). Understanding middle school students' motivation in math class:  The expectancy-value model perspective.  International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology, 3(4), 288-297.