Elsevier

Learning and Instruction

Volume 60, April 2019, Pages 252-262
Learning and Instruction

Supporting interest in a study domain: A longitudinal test of the interplay between interest, utility-value, and competence beliefs

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2017.11.002Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Self-efficacy and interest presented a reciprocal relationship.

  • Initial interest predicted future competency beliefs, utility-value and achievement.

  • Competency beliefs were important signals for movement between subgroups.

Abstract

The current study used a longitudinal design to model initial interest and utility-value as antecedents of developing interest and course proficiency. Using measures from four time points across one academic year and competency assessed at the beginning of the previous year, we examined direct and mediated contributions of utility-value, self-efficacy, and self-concept for the development of domain interest. Japanese tertiary students (n = 614; Female = 129) undertaking a compulsory year-long study of English as a foreign language participated. Students reported motivation (interest, utility-value and competence beliefs of self-efficacy and self-concept) for studying English as a foreign language. In addition, the design allowed detection of reciprocal effects: the forward effect of interest on competence beliefs and in turn the forward effects of competence beliefs on interest. Initial domain interest indicated direct and/or mediated effects for all constructs, while self-efficacy indicated a reciprocal relationship with domain interest. Profile analyses (LPA) identified 3 motivation profiles that were stable across two semesters. Testing a mover-stayer model (LPTA) indicated some movement between the low and medium intensity profiles of motivation.

Introduction

Interest in specific learning domains is both a means and important outcome for formal education. Research on the development of interest is yielding an increasingly complex picture of how interest in a domain grows through provision of supportive contexts based on understanding how interest interacts with a range of related motivational constructs (Ainley et al., 2002, Krapp, 2002, Renninger and Hidi, 2011, Schiefele, 2009). Across one year of university study, the current research investigated how the interconnections between constructs known to be associated with interest; namely, self-concept, self-efficacy, utility-value and competence, together contribute to continuing interest in the domain, in this case learning of English as a foreign language.

Reviews over the last two decades have drawn attention to the overlap between commonly researched motivation constructs (see e.g., Murphy & Alexander, 2000). In a later review, Wigfield and Cambria (2010) drew attention to the work of Pintrich, Marx, and Boyle (1993) who distinguished individuals' motivation-related beliefs about their abilities to do tasks, for example, efficacy and competence beliefs, from their reasons for doing tasks or for choosing study domains. When faced with a learning activity, reasons for doing a task along with salient competence beliefs function as drivers for the cognitive processing required to perform the learning activity. In the current research reasons for study are represented by interest and utility-value constructs, while competence beliefs are represented by self-efficacy and self-concept constructs. Hence, it is expected that there will be forward predictive links between these constructs as they develop across a course of instruction. For example, interest for a course of study will activate feelings of efficacy for the tasks presented in that course of study, which in turn will support continuing interest in the domain. Utility-value and self-concept are also expected to contribute to the motivation system that plays out across the course of the year of study to impact on students' further interest in the domain. Hence, motivation processes acting as drivers for the cognitive processing required to enact activities in the domain of study, contribute to students’ proficiency as assessed by standardised performance measures.

Identifying patterns of relations among motivation constructs within a study domain requires a longitudinal data set modelled using analytic procedures that can separate the predictive effects and reciprocal connections between latent constructs as they contribute to future interest in the study domain and achievement at the end of the course (see Marsh et al., 2005, Denissen et al., 2007). Hence, the current study modelled the longitudinal direct and mediated effects of a set of latent constructs over one year of a compulsory, English as a foreign language course. In this way we sought to extend the understanding of reciprocal links among motivation constructs as they contribute to continuing interest and to increasing language proficiency.

Utilising a variable-centred approach, the links between and relative impact of important variables can be assessed. However, to examine the shared role of beliefs and motivations beyond the average student and examine the pattern of students’ development, cross-sectional and longitudinal person-centred perspectives are also necessary. Therefore the present study combines these analytical approaches toward enhancing our understanding of interest and proficiency development.

Interest is a complex, domain specific construct involving a combination of affective experiences such as enjoyment (Ainley & Hidi, 2014), perceptions of value (Krapp, 2002), knowledge components (Renninger & Hidi, 2002) and a desire for repeated engagement with the domain (Renninger & Hidi, 2011). The Four-Phase Model of Interest Development (Hidi & Renninger, 2006) describes how interest develops across phases of triggered and maintained situational interest, emerging and well-developed individual interest. Research findings suggest that individual interest in a domain predicts persistence, effort, and the progress of learning reflected in students' perceived competence and actual achievement in the domain (Renninger and Hidi, 2002, Schiefele, 2009). Individual interest in the study domain is an important outcome of learning experiences. In addition, individual interest contributes to students’ decisions regarding future participation in the study domain (Harackiewicz, Barron, Pintrich, Elliot, & Thrash, 2002). Hence, in the current study we examined the longitudinal predictive power of individual interest in the study domain for course-end interest and actual proficiency in the domain.

Beyond the immediate influence of interest in a domain on later interest and participation, knowledge of the direct and mediated effects on interest of related constructs such as value, self-concept, and self-efficacy are critical for understanding interest development.

Value functions as a key motivation for students’ interest in a range of study domains (Brophy, 1999, Brophy, 2008, Wigfield and Eccles, 2002) and has been researched extensively in domains such as science (e.g., Ainley & Ainley, 2011), mathematics (e.g., Harackiewicz, Rozek, Hulleman, & Hyde, 2012), and psychology (Harackiewicz et al., 2008, Hulleman et al., 2008). The value component in much of this research is based on Expectancy-Value Theory where Eccles et al. (1983) defined task-value as the perceived importance of a task. Eccles et al. distinguished four components of task-value: utility-value or the usefulness of the task for the achievement of future goals, intrinsic or interest value, attainment value or the importance of the task for identity and self-beliefs, and cost. It should be noted that one of the components of task-value as defined by Eccles et al. is intrinsic or interest value. There are strong similarities between this component and interest as defined by Hidi and Renninger (2006). Simultaneously, the construct of individual interest as defined by Hidi and Renninger (2006) and by other interest researchers (e.g., Krapp, 2002, Schiefele, 2009), has a strong value component.

In this research we focus on utility-value, which past research has shown to be related to the development of interest in a course, or study domain (e.g., Harackiewicz et al., 2008, Hulleman et al., 2008). For example, Hulleman, Godes, Hendricks, and Harackiewicz (2010) designed an intervention testing whether stimulating students’ utility-value for a domain would affect interest and performance. The intervention had significant direct predictive effects for achievement and for both situational and maintained interest. Indirect effects of initial interest on later interest were mediated through utility-value. In addition, this intervention was particularly effective for low competence students, suggesting that competence and value interact to influence future interest and achievement. Therefore, we expect that utility-value will contribute to the development of interest in a study domain, and in this research we test whether utility-value measured early in a course makes an independent contribution to the prediction of interest measured at the end of the course.

Self-efficacy is concerned with people's beliefs in their capabilities to produce given attainments (Bandura, 2006). Self-efficacy is generally defined as an individual's belief in his/her ability to effect actions necessary to successfully complete a future task or achieve a goal (Bandura, 1997). However, Bandura (2011) has also stated that self-efficacy is not limited to a single task: i.e., “Judgments of self-efficacy for pursuits like academic achievement, organizational productivity, entrepreneurship, and effecting social change encompass activities of broad scope, not just an isolated piece of work. Moreover, strength of self-efficacy is measured across a wide range of performances within an activity domain, not just performance on a specific item.” (p.17).

In the context of a specific course of tertiary studies, for example, self-efficacy refers to students' beliefs that they will be consistently successful in the various demands presented by their course, that is, in the specific tasks they encounter in their English language classes. Self-concept on the other hand, refers to an individual's retrospective (Marsh, Martin, Yeung, & Craven, 2016), general domain-specific sense of competence (Marsh & Shavelson, 1985). In the context of tertiary study, self-concept refers to students' perceptions of past achievement and present competence in the domain.

While a substantial body of research has established the clear divergent construct validity of self-concept and self-efficacy (see Bong & Skaalvik, 2003), little research has examined their shared and discrete roles for interest development and learning outcomes. A recent meta-analysis indicated that in the context of tertiary education, self-efficacy is the stronger correlate and in fact one of the strongest correlates of achievement (Richardson, Abraham, & Bond, 2012). In addition, Parker, Marsh, Ciarrochi, Marshall, and Abduljabbar (2014) reported that both self-efficacy and self-concept predicted choice of university entrance. However, only self-efficacy predicted actual university entry and only self-concept predicted students choosing STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) studies.

With respect to the relation between competence beliefs and interest, research has indicated that self-concept has a small to moderate predictive effect for future interest in the same domain (e.g. Denissen et al., 2007, Fryer, 2015, Viljarantaa et al., 2015). Others have explored the theoretical and empirical relation between interest and self-efficacy for writing tasks (Ainley et al., 2009, Hidi et al., 2006). Cross-lagged modelling across multiple data points suggested that the association between interest and self-concept over time, while small, is reciprocal (Marsh et al., 2005). More recently Fryer, Ainley, and Thompson (2016) monitored interest for specific tasks across a full semester and reported different predictive effects of self-efficacy and self-concept measured at the beginning of the course on interest measured in relation to specific course tasks. Self-concept predicted to the initial measure of task interest whereas self-efficacy also predicted to specific task interest much later in the course. However, self-efficacy and self-concept were only measured at the commencement of the course and so it was not possible to determine whether there were reciprocal relations between interest and competence beliefs of self-efficacy and self-concept as suggested by a number of researchers (e.g., Hidi & Ainley, 2008; Marsh et al., 2005). Therefore, in the current research we included a sequence of measures that allowed us to detect reciprocal effects between interest and competence belief measures.

Furthermore, expectancy-value theory also emphasizes the role of students' perceived competence in relation to task performance thereby implicating students’ perception of their general competence in relation to the domain, that is, self-concept (Trautwein et al., 2012), as well as their sense of efficacy for specific tasks, that is, self-efficacy (Conley, 2011). Therefore, the sequence of measures included in the design of the current research also allowed evaluation of the longitudinal role of utility-value for competence belief measures of self-efficacy and self-concept.

Due to the considerable persistence necessary to learn a foreign/second language, the importance of interest is clear. However, very little research has examined foreign/second language learning through this motivational lens. Motivational research in the area of language learning has classically focused on the role of socio-cultural (e.g, Gardner, 1988) or language acquisition specific (e.g., Ushioda, 2012) models. More recent research (e.g., McEown et al., 2014, Oga-Baldwin et al., 2017) have begun to examine the implications of broader psychological frameworks such as self-determination theory. The small amount of recent research that has examined interest within foreign/second language learning has either not undertaken fully longitudinal modelling of essential variables (Fryer, 2015, Fryer et al., 2016) or focused exclusively on interest and not examined the reciprocal role of other important constructs such as actual competence, ability-beliefs and utility-value (Fryer, Ainley, Thompson, Gibson, & Sherlock, 2017).

The current study used a longitudinal design to model initial domain interest and utility-value as antecedents of developing interest and language proficiency based on measures from tertiary students’ participating in a year-long study of English as a foreign language. Identification of the specific patterns of relations between the set of latent variables was modelled within a longitudinal simultaneous latent structural equation model to highlight direct and mediated effects.

Four specific issues were addressed.

First, we examined the direct and mediated contributions of utility-value, self-efficacy, and self-concept for the development of interest in a learning domain.

Second, the design allowed for detecting reciprocal effects and so we tested the forward effect of initial domain interest on competence beliefs and in turn the forward effect of competence beliefs on later domain interest.

However, longitudinal antecedent modelling will only provide information about the average student in the study. In addition, we were keen to identify whether there are different trajectories and patterns of relations between the modelled factors for subgroups of students (e.g., Schwinger, Steinmayr, & Spinath, 2016).

Third, at two time points we applied latent profile analysis (LPA), an approach that is sensitive to differences in students’ experiences, to identify different trajectories of motivation across the course.

Fourth, the LPA was followed up with latent profile transition analysis (LPTA) to detect whether there were changes in subgroup membership across the course.

A compulsory language-learning course provided an ideal context for testing the relations described above. First, rather than an achievement test of course curricula or teacher assigned semester grades, we employed a standardised test of language skill proficiency (180 questions, Listening and Reading; see Stewart, Gibson, & Fryer, 2012). An achievement test based on teacher assigned semester grades can include teacher biases and is as much about completing course curricula as about gains in actual domain competence. On the other hand, a standardised skill proficiency test, which is not directly connected to course curricula, when administered both prior to and on completion of a course, can provide an important measure of actual increases in competence across the year of study. Second, because the course is compulsory, there was a range of abilities, self-perceptions and goals among the participants thereby ensuring that problems associated with ceiling effects as described by Silvia (2003), are less likely to interfere with estimated predictive effects. Finally, there is relatively little research into how these motivational factors support foreign language learning and so the current research is timely.

In short, the current study used a longitudinal design to model antecedents of further interest in the study domain and course competence. Direct and mediated contributions of utility-value, self-efficacy and self-concept for the development of interest in a learning domain over the course of one academic year were modelled and potential reciprocal effects identified. Fig. 1 presents the hypothesised cross-lagged model which includes longitudinal measures of competence, interest, self-concept and self-efficacy. In addition, latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to identify profiles of subgroups within the sample for both Semester 1 and Semester 2 measures. Finally, latent profile transition analysis (LPTA) was used to examine movement between subgroups, that is, to identify students whose profiles differed when Semester 1 and Semester 2 subgroups were compared. Year-end foreign language competence was also explored as an important observed outcome.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were second year students (n = 614; Female = 129) from one mid-sized private university in Japan. Students were from six faculties (International Culture, Business, Economics, Fine Arts, Engineering, Computer Science) and studying English as a foreign language for compulsory foundation credits within a coordinated curriculum. Students were allocated to classes by the administration. All classes followed the same attendance and assessment policies and employed common teaching

Results

Prior to conducting the main analyses a test for gender effects was undertaken. No significant gender effects were observed and so gender has not been included in the following analyses. The latent correlations, means, standard deviations and composite reliability coefficients (Raykov's Rho) are presented in Table 1. Means on all of the self-report scales were around the midpoint of the seven point scales (3.21–4.25). In terms of reliability for the self-report scales, all of the coefficients

Discussion

The current study's longitudinal, variable-centred modelling of interest, utility-value, self-efficacy, self-concept and competence provides an enhanced understanding of the role of personal factors for students' continuing interest in a domain of study.

We found evidence of a strong reciprocal relationship between self-efficacy and interest across the academic year. There was also some evidence of a small reciprocal relationship between competence and interest over the time between the two

Limitations and future directions

Despite the longitudinal design and use of latent modelling, it is important to stress that prediction and causation are not the same. Given the importance of supporting student interest within formal education at all levels, future research in this area needs to be undertaken across study domains, across cultural contexts and at other levels of education to add to and test the external validity of the findings presented here. Interventions using quasi- and fully experimental methods are also

Conclusion

Interest research is a quickly growing field. While substantial advances have been made in understanding the development of interest, further research is needed to understand how individual differences across a range of motivation constructs contribute to this development. The current study supports the broad importance of students’ initial interest in a domain of study for key motivational and proficiency outcomes. Consistent with evidence from utility-value interventions and research, our

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    The first author's contributions was partially supported by a Thomas and Ethel Mary Ewing Scholarship.

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