Relevance and Motivation: Using Theory and Research to Make a

Difference in the Real World

Chris S. Hulleman, Ph.D.James Madison University

Invited Presentation to the Curry Education Research Lectureship Series

University of Virginia, February 4th, 2011

When a person likes what he does and is motivated to do it, focusing the mind becomes effortless even when the objective difficulties are great.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi- Finding Flow (1997), p. 27

www.ratemyprofessor.com “Definitely take this class. I never went to class or

bought the book, and I got a B.”

“The easiest teacher! Always lets class out early and cancels class on Fridays a lot. TAKE HIM!”

“Hey Prof, i didnt come 2 class last week. did i miss anything imp? any of it gonna b on the test? also, is lab runnin the whole time 2day, or we gettin out early?”

Lepper, Henderlong Corpus, & Iyengar, 2005

Motivational Strategies

Newby (1991) J. Ed. Psych, 195-200.

One type of motivation: Interest

• Interest = Person X Activity/Topic– The potential for interest is in the person, but

content and environment determine the direction and development of interest

• Interest develops and deepens over time through four phases (Hidi & Renninger, 2006)

Triggered situational interest

Maintained situational interest

Emerging individual interest

Well-developed individual interest

Externally prompted

Arousal

Attention

Affect

Focused attention

Persistence

Meaningfulness

Personal Relevance

Personal value

Knowledge

Re-engagement

Enduring predisposition

Curiosity questions

Self-generated

Hidi & Renninger (2006):Four-phase model of interest

Expectancy-Value Theory(Eccles et al., 1983; Wigfield & Eccles, 1992)

Motivation = (Expectancy) x (Value)

Expectancy = degree to which you believe you can complete a task

Value = degree to which you are interested in, or see a purpose for, the task

Utility ValueTask is important because it is useful & relevant…

- for other tasks- to a person’s life

Examples: Math and EngineeringNeuroscience and Autism

Research questions: 1. Is utility value important for student motivation

and success?2. How can teachers and coaches facilitate utility

value?

Real-world

(Practice)

TheoryResearch

Conclu-sions

Adapted from Coombs, Raiffa, & Thrall (1954)

Theory, Research, and the Real World

How can we study motivation?

Observation Laboratory Field Experiment

Strength

Drawback

Real-world situation

Not casual (correlation)

How can we study motivation?

Observation Laboratory Field Experiment

Strength

Drawback

Real-world situation

Cause and effect

Not casual (correlation)

Artificial Situation

How can we study motivation?

Observation Laboratory Field Experiment

Strength

Drawback

Real-world situation

Cause and effect

Real-world situationCause and effect

Not casual (correlation)

Artificial Situation

Lack of control

Our ResearchLongitudinal Field Observations:

– College Classrooms (Psychology, Statistics)– High School Sports Camp

Laboratory Experiment:– Development and Testing of a Relevance

Intervention

Randomized Field Experiments:– College and High School Classrooms

(Psychology, Statistics)– Parents and Teens

Final Interest.46

.19Utility Value

.25

.30*

Final Grade

Initial Course Interest

Study 1: College ClassroomPerceived Utility Value in Introduction to Psychology Undergrads (n = 625)

Hulleman, Durik, Schweigert, & Harackiewicz, 2008

.36 (.46)

All paths are standardized regression coefficients, and are significant at p < .05.

Camp Interest.20

.22Utility Value

.24*

.25*

Coach Ratings

Initial Course Interest

Study 2: Football CampPerceived Utility Value at a high school football summer camp (n = 198)

Hulleman, Durik, Schweigert, & Harackiewicz, 2008

.10 (.20)

All paths are standardized regression coefficients, and are significant at p < .05.

Research Question #1: Is utility value associated with student motivation and achievement?

Answer:YES! Utility value predicts both interest and

performance

Research Question #2:• Can we manipulate utility value?

– Study 3: Laboratory experiment with college undergraduates

Study 3: Mental Math(N = 107 undergrads)

x 4 2

23

Step 1

x 4 2

23

Step 4

x 4 2

23

Step 2

x 4 2

23

Step 3

1200 1280 1340 1344

Hulleman et al., 2010, Journal of Educational Psychology

Study 3: Utility Value ManipulationUtility Value:Type a short essay briefly describing the potential relevance of this technique to your own life, or to the lives of college students in general. . . Please focus on how this technique could be useful to you or to other college students. . .

Control:Type a short essay describing the objects that you see in the picture. Simply describe in detail the objects that you see.

Hulleman et al., 2010, Journal of Educational Psychology

Study 3 Results

d = .42, p = .03 (β = .21)

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

Final Utility Value

Control Relevance

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

Final Interest

Control Relevance

d = .49, p = .01 (β = .25)

Hulleman et al., 2010, Journal of Educational Psychology

Utility Value Psychology Interest

Study 3 Results(N = 107)

β = -.35, p < .01

Utility Value

β = -.27, p = .02

Psychology Interest

Hulleman et al., 2010, Journal of Educational Psychology

4

4.5

5

5.5

Low High

Perceived Utility Value

Performance Expectations

Control Relevance

4

4.5

5

5.5

Low High

Interest

Performance Expectations

Control Relevance

Summary: Studies 1-3(Hulleman et al., 2008; Hulleman et al., in press)

• Perceived utility value predicts interest and performance

• Manipulated utility value increased perceived utility value and interest, particularly for low achievers

Can we extend the experimental findings to college and high school classes?

Classroom Utility Value Interventions

Study 4 - College Psychology (N = 237)Study 5 – High School Science (N = 262)

Experimental intervention with a writing task in which

students are asked to describe the relevance

of class material to their own lives

Relevance Manipulation

Relevance :Write 5 or more sentences (1-2 pages) explaining why the topic is relevant to your life or the life of someone you know.

Control:Write 5 or more sentences (1-2 pages) that summarize the topic you have selected.

High school science classes (Intro Psych college course)

ALL:Pick one of the topics or concepts that we have covered in this unit.

One student’s essay

Topic: The Metric System“My family runs a dairy farm. We measure how

much milk is in the cooler. The milkman measures the milk and takes it to the cheese factory and he had to tell them how much we have and then they will pay us money. It is important to measure accurately so we need a budget for the future. We also measure the food for the cows.”

Another student’s essayTopic: The 8 Characteristics of Life“The reason I chose characteristics of life because

when I grow up I want to be a doctor. Doctors need to know about the characteristics of life in order to help their patients. This information can help me when I have to take advanced biology in college. My brothers are always getting sick and knowing about homeostasis and virus can help me find out why they’re always getting sick. And I want to be a laboratory technician. They need to know about DNA and stuff.”

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

Low Performers High Performers

Fina

l Interest

Control Relevance

β = -.14, p = .02

Study 4: College PsychologyPsychology Interest

Hulleman et al., 2010, Journal of Educational Psychology

Study 5: High School Science

Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009, Science

3.0

3.2

3.4

3.6

3.8

4.0

4.2

4.4

Low Expectations High Expectations

Fina

l Cou

rse Interest

Control Relevance

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

Low Expectations High ExpectationsSecond

 Qua

rter Grade

Control Relevance

Psychology Interest Semester Grades

Note: Error bars represent +/- 2 SEM.

β = -.11, p = .01 β = -.18, p = .03

Relevance Intervention

Perceived Utility Value

Low Expectations for Success

.44

Relevance Intervention

Perceived Utility Value

High Expectations for Success

-.07

Grades

Interest

.20

.34

Future Plans

.30

Grades

Interest

.20

.34

Future Plans

.30

Study 5: High School Science

Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009, Science

Parents – An Untapped Resource?

• The Wisconsin Maternity Leave and Health (WMLH) Project and the Wisconsin Study of Families and Work (WSFW)

• Recruited 570 pregnant women and 550 of their husbands/partners in 1990-91

• Continue to follow the families today, 16th wave of data collection on-going(HS graduation)

Study 6: The Intervention

• Random assignment by family (9th-grade)– 87 received utility value intervention (relevance group)– 100 families did not (control group)

• Brochures + Website for parents (10th-11th grade)– Emphasizes utility in daily life and the near future – Guidance for parents

• Help child make personal connections• Discuss future challenges

• Longitudinal Surveys and Interviews (9th-12th

grade)

Study 6: Preliminary Results

• Intervention increased– Mother reports of Math & Science

conversations with teens, and valuing of Math & Science

– Teen reports of Math & Science value, and parental support for Math & Science course choices

Overall SummaryConsistent pattern of results across contexts

(sports camp, high school & college classes, laboratory, families):– the relevance intervention led to more perceived utility

value and higher levels of interest, particularly for low achieving students

In high school classes, the relevance intervention also led to higher grades

Finding utility value in the course material increased subsequent motivation and better performance

Implications for TheoryConsider interactions between E’s and V’s

The Eccles et al. (1983) E-V model:

M = E + V

Classic Achievement Motivation models, especially those in I/O Psychology, have used:

M = E*V or M = E + V + E*V

Further model testing is warranted

Implications for PracticeUtility value (via relevance) matters for student

motivation and learning!

The studied intervention was:• Easy to implement• Low cost• Based on motivation theory•Only one of many ways to increase utility value

–E.g., see Acee & Weintstein, 2010, JXE

Implications for ResearchBecause the intervention was based on the

APPLICATION of MOTIVATION THEORY to a PRACTICAL PROBLEM in education…..

Educational researchers, particularly motivation researchers, can do more to help translate research findings into curricular practices

Can we expect teachers or parents to read our empirical articles?

Real-world

(Practice)

TheoryResearch

Conclu-sions

Theory, Research, and the Real World

Other Motivational ResearchMechanisms of value effects

– Attention– Persistence– Goal setting– Identification & Involvement

E’s and V’s in the classroom– Developing instruments– Effective interventions

Rewards and Motivation– Teacher Pay-for-Performance– Student tutoring

Thank You!And Special Thanks to my Collaborators:

Judith HarackiewiczBryan HendricksAdam GamoranGeoffrey BormanJanet Hyde

David Cordray Amanda Durik

Kenn Barron

Contact Information:Dr. Chris Hulleman, co-DirectorMail: MSC 6806, 821 S. Main Street, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807Office Phone: (540) 568-2516Email: hullemcs@jmu.edu

Dr. Kenn Barron, co-Director Mail: MSC 7401, Department of Psychology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807Office Phone: (540) 568-4065Email: barronke@jmu.edu

http://mri.cisat.jmu.edu/index.html

Chris Hulleman is an assistant professor at James Madison University with a joint appointment in Graduate Psychology and the Center for Assessment and Research Studies. Chris also co-coordinates the Motivation Research Institute. He received his PhD in social/personality psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007, and then spent two years as an Institute for Education Sciences Research Fellow in Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education. In 2009, he won the Pintrich Outstanding Dissertation Award from Division 15 (Educational Psychology) of the American Psychological Association. He teaches courses in graduate statistics and research methods, and serves as the assessment liaison for the Division of Student Affairs. His motivation research focuses on motivation in academic, sport, work, and family settings. His methodological interests include developing guidelines for translating laboratory research into the field, and developing indices of implementation fidelity. As a Research Affiliate for the National Center on Performance Incentives Chris is involved in several randomized field experiments of teacher pay-for-performance programs in K-12 settings. His scholarship has been published in Science, Journal of Educational Psychology, Psychological Bulletin, Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, and Phi Delta Kappan.

Kenn Barron is an associate professor at James Madison University in the Department of Psychology, and co-coordinator of the Motivation Research Institute. He received his PhD in social/personality psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1999. Kenn received his college's Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in 2004, and he has been nominated for his college's Distinguished Teacher Award and Madison Scholarship Award. He also has been recognized with the Provost's Award for Freshmen Advising in 2007, the National Academic Advising Association's Outstanding Faculty Award in 2008, and JMU’s All Together One Award in 2009. Kenn regularly teaches courses in research methods, statistics, motivation, and social psychology, and he coordinates a unique, residential learning community program in psychology for incoming freshmen. His research focuses on motivation and achievement in academic, sport, and work settings, and has appeared in the Journal of Educational Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Educational and Psychological Measurement, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, Educational Psychologist, and Sage.