Many students suffer from motivational problems when doing homework. To investigate whether an intervention that effectively promoted value beliefs in mathematics promoted students' homework motivation and behavior, we analyzed data from a cluster randomized controlled study with two classroom-based relevance interventions (writing a text or…

In their situated expectancy-value theory, Eccles and Wigfield (2020) assume students' competence and value beliefs to be situation-specific and thereby to be "situative" in nature. Even though motivation research has gradually been developing an understanding of this situative nature, for instance, by disentangling time-consistent and…

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,…

Using data from 1,571 ninth-grade students (M[subscript age] = 14.62) from 82 academic track schools in Germany and their predominantly Caucasian middle-class parents, configurations of different family characteristics reported by parents were investigated. Latent profile analyses considering academic involvement, family interest, parents'…

In recent decades, several countries have made an effort to increase the enrollment rates and performance of students in science and mathematics by means of mandatory, rigorous course work, which is often referred to as curricular intensification (CI). However, there is a lack of research on intended and unintended effects of CI reforms on…

Expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation identifies two classes of beliefs that are important predictors of educational choices and achievement: expectancies and values. It is well known that high achieving peers can have a negative impact on self-concept and other measures of expected success: holding individual achievement constant,…

One way to address the leaking pipeline toward STEM-related careers (i.e., science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) is to intervene on students' STEM motivation in school. However, a neglected question in intervention research is how such interventions affect motivation in subjects not targeted by the intervention. This question was…

Using a cluster randomized field trial, the present study tested whether 2 relevance interventions affected students' value beliefs, self-concept, and effort in math differently depending on family background (socioeconomic status, family interest (FI), and parental utility value). Eighty-two classrooms were randomly assigned to either 1 of 2…

Interventions targeting students' perceived relevance of the learning content have been shown to effectively promote student motivation within science classes (e.g., Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009). Yet, further research is warranted to understand better how such interventions should be designed in order to be successfully implemented in the…

Using the theoretical framework of achievement goal theory, this study investigated the accuracy of teachers' judgments of their students' motivation. Self-report data were gathered on the mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals of 1140 German secondary school students (mean age = 14.24) in five academic subjects (English,…

The present study examined the associations of 2 indicators of homework quality (homework selection and homework challenge) with homework motivation, homework behavior, and mathematics achievement. Multilevel modeling was used to analyze longitudinal data from a representative national sample of 3,483 students in Grades 9 and 10; homework effects…

The present study investigated intraindividual variation in students' interest experience in 3 school subjects and the predictive power of perceived autonomy support and control. Participants were 261 students in 7th grade. After a survey of students' individual interests and other individual characteristics, repeated lesson-specific measures of…

Assigning students to different classes on the basis of their achievement levels (tracking, streaming, or ability grouping) is an extensively used strategy with widely debated consequences. The authors developed a model of the effects of tracking on self-concept and interest that integrates the opposing predictions of "assimilation" and…