Background: Following growing calls to investigate the situational nature of motivation across diverse institutional contexts and student populations, this study examined fluctuations in students' motivational beliefs-expectancy, value, and costs-across multiple time points in an introductory statistics course. Aims: We aimed to replicate and extend prior work conducted at predominantly White/Asian institutions by exploring whether dynamic patterns of motivation generalize to Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), addressing the need for more inclusive research on situational motivation. Sample: The sample consisted of 439 students enrolled in an introductory statistics and data science course at several HSIs. Methods: Using an intensive longitudinal design, we measured students' motivational beliefs at multiple time points. We analyzed overall trajectories, within- and between-student variability, associations with course performance, and the moderating role of demographic factors. Results: Consistent with past research, we found substantial within-student variability in motivational beliefs across expectancy, value, and cost. However, associations between motivation and performance, as well as demographic moderators, differed from those observed in prior studies conducted at predominantly White/Asian institutions. Conclusions: Findings highlight the importance of examining motivation as a dynamic, context-dependent process. Results highlight the need for further research into how situational and contextual factors shape motivation and academic outcomes across diverse student populations and institutional settings.

Despite a recent focus on healthcare student and worker well-being, few studies have investigated the correlates of medical educator well-being. To address this limitation, this study examined workplace factors associated with burnout, job satisfaction, and likelihood to recommend the workplace among medical educators at 42 osteopathic medical campuses in the U.S. Our sample included 466 educators (47% female, 11% underrepresented in medicine [i.e., black, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, Pacific Islander], 59% clinical) who completed measures of perceived professional development support, workplace belonging, workplace inclusivity, work-life balance, burnout, job satisfaction, and likelihood to recommend their workplace. Results indicated that perceived professional development support, workplace belonging, workplace inclusivity, and work-life balance were all significantly associated with our outcomes: burnout, job satisfaction, and likelihood to recommend their workplace. Regression analyses revealed that these workplace factors, together with personal identities (i.e., gender, race/ethnicity) and academic discipline, explained a significant proportion of variance in all three outcomes. We also found significant differences in both the predictor and outcome variables based on gender, race/ethnicity, and academic discipline (i.e., basic science, clinical) highlighting significant disparities in educator experiences based on their personal identities and discipline. Targeted institutional initiatives promoting professional development, workplace belonging, inclusivity, and work-life balance may increase job satisfaction, decrease burnout, and address workplace disparities.

In this article, we describe a researcher-practitioner partnership (RPP) that used a networked improvement community (NIC) approach to translate social-psychological interventions into educational practices to enhance student motivation and learning. Specifically, we highlight one of our first collaborative projects to develop and scale up an intervention to teach middle school students about adopting a growth mindset (Dweck, 2006) to address our practitioners' concern that many of their students lacked the belief that they could learn. Using Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, we show how we (a) successfully adapted a previously used growth mindset intervention designed for college students into a computer app appropriate for middle school students, (b) embedded using the app in different middle school contexts to promote growth mindset thinking, and (c) linked students' growth mindset thinking to improved academic performance. We also discuss how this work was conducted as part of a networked improvement community sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching called the Student Agency Improvement Community.

Previous research has established the benefits of utility-value interventions in improving students' motivation and achievement outcomes. However, further investigation is needed to understand the heterogeneity of intervention effects and identify the contexts within which these interventions are more effective. Accordingly, in the present study, we tested the efficacy of a utility-value intervention in contexts with varying degrees of perceived instructor support in the development of values and relevance. Participants were 2,240 community college students enrolled in one of the four math courses taught by 78 instructors. The results of multilevel models with Bayesian estimation suggested that the utility-value intervention increased students' relevance for mathematics, which in turn positively predicted their math achievement. Notably, the intervention predicted these outcomes only in contexts where students perceived less support from instructors for the development of values, highlighting its effectiveness in contexts where it was most needed. Additionally, the results revealed an unintended consequence of the utility-value intervention: a slight decrease in students' expectations for success in their math course compared to the control group. We propose that minor adjustments to the writing activities embedded within the intervention in future research could mitigate any negative effects on students' expectations for success. This study underscores the importance of examining the heterogeneity of intervention effects, highlighting that interventions do not produce uniform outcomes across all contexts. The results have implications for professional development opportunities for instructors seeking to foster value-supportive environments for their students.

We measured expectancy, value, and cost 10 times over a 10 -week introductory statistics course ( N = 219) to examine their overall trajectory as well as individual ( between - student) differences and situational ( within - student) variability. First, our findings revealed an initial decline in expectancy and value and an initial increase in cost. Second, expectancy, utility value, and cost demonstrated individual and situational variability of comparable size, while intrinsic value had higher individual variability. Third, individual and situational variability in expectancy and value predicted variability in performance. Lastly, the relation of situational variability in expectancy and utility value with performance was stronger for Black, Latinx, and other racially marginalized students than for White/Asian students. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the situational nature of motivational beliefs and have implications for practitioners, course curriculum designers, and policymakers who aim to create more supportive and motivation -enhancing environments, particularly for statistics courses and students from racially marginalized and underserved backgrounds. Educational relevance and implications statement: The aim of this research was to better understand the dynamic and situational nature of motivational beliefs (expectancy, value, and cost) in a college statistics course by measuring them 10 times over a 10 -week term in an introductory statistics course. We found an initial decline in expectancy for success and values for statistics and an initial increase in perceived cost. We also found these beliefs fluctuated depending on the learning situation, which in turn, predicted their performance in that situation. Lastly, for students from racially marginalized and underserved groups (e.g., Black, Latinx, and NativeAmerican students), we found that the learning situation played a key role in influencing their motivational beliefs and performance, highlighting the importance of taking the learning context into account when designing motivation -enhancing environments for students in statistics courses. These findings have implications for practice in that they (a) allow curriculum developers to redesign certain chapters based on motivational declines, and (b) help us identify the student groups whose motivational beliefs varies the most with contextual factors, and as such, any context -relevant interventions for creating more equitable learning contexts that support students of all backgrounds, particularly those who are historically marginalized by our education systems.

Importance:Given the high rates of burnout and associated negative mental health outcomes (eg, depression, suicidal ideation, substance abuse) among medical students and physicians, it is imperative to identify strategies for supporting the future health workforce, particularly when considering trends indicating a future shortage of physicians. Understanding the associations of medical school students' learning mindsets (eg, growth mindset, purpose and relevance, and sense of belonging) with indicators of well-being (eg, flourishing) and ill-being (eg, burnout) could provide a foundation for future research to consider when attempting to combat the negative mental health trends among medical students and physicians. Objectives:To understand the associations of medical school students' learning mindsets (ie, their beliefs about themselves as learners and their learning environment) with critical student health outcomes (ie, well-being and ill-being). Design, Setting, and Participants:This survey study used a nationally representative sample of first-year osteopathic medical school students across the US who responded to a survey of learning mindsets as well as measures of well-being and ill-being in fall 2022. Data were analyzed from January to April 2024. Main Outcomes and Measures:Learning mindsets were categorized as growth mindset, purpose and relevance, and sense of belonging. Well-being was categorized as flourishing and resilience, and ill-being was categorized as burnout and psychological symptoms. Outcomes were regressed on learning mindset and demographics variables, and interactions of demographic variables and learning mindsets were assessed. Results:A total of 7839 students were surveyed, and 6622 students (mean [SD] age, 25.05 [3.20]; 3678 [55.5%] women) responded and were included in analyses. The 3 learning mindsets were significantly associated with flourishing (growth mindset: b = 0.34; 95% CI, 0.23 to 0.45; P < .001; purpose and relevance: b = 2.02; 95% CI, 1.83 to 2.20; P < .001; belonging uncertainty: b = -0.98; 95% CI, -1.08 to -0.89; P < .001) and resilience (growth mindset: b = 0.28; 95% CI, 0.17 to 0.40; P < .001; purpose and relevance: b = 1.62; 95% CI, 1.43 to 1.82; P < .001; belonging uncertainty: b = -1.50; 95% CI, -1.60 to -1.40; P < .001) well-being outcomes and burnout (growth mindset: b = -0.09; 95% CI, -0.11 to -0.07; P < .001; purpose and relevance: b = -0.29; 95% CI, -0.32 to -0.25; P < .001; belonging uncertainty: b = 0.28; 95% CI, 0.26 to 0.30; P < .001) and psychological symptoms (growth mindset: b = -0.22; 95% CI, -0.30 to -0.14; P < .001; purpose and relevance: b = -0.51; 95% CI, -0.64 to -0.38; P < .001; belonging uncertainty: b = 1.33; 95% CI, 1.27 to 1.40; P < .001) ill-being outcomes, even when controlling for important demographic characteristics (eg, race and ethnicity, gender identity, age). Furthermore, several significant interactions indicated that these learning mindsets may be particularly salient for students from historically marginalized communities: there was a significant interaction between growth mindset and race and ethnicity (b = 0.58; 95% CI, 0.08 to 1.09, P = .02), such that growth mindset was more strongly associated with flourishing among American Indian or Alaska Native, Black, Latine, or Native Hawaiian students. Conclusions and Relevance:These findings suggest that identifying strategies for supporting students' learning mindsets may be an effective way to support medical student well-being and reduce ill-being, particularly among students from historically marginalized backgrounds.

INTRODUCTION:There is a growing concern for physician and medical student well-being and burnout. Growth mindset, or the belief that ability can be developed, as well as students' perception of their instructors' growth mindset, have been associated with better academic outcomes for a wide range of students. The primary purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of growth mindset on medical student well-being. METHOD:We recruited all graduating osteopathic medical students in the class of 2023. This survey included items about student demographics (including identifiable items), experiences in medical school, practice plans, along with financial and other information. The survey of 667 items required a median time of 33 min to complete. Our sample consisted of 4,180 students. Students self-reported growth mindset, perception of instructor growth mindset, and four measures of well-being: flourishing, resilience, burnout, and maladaptive psychological symptoms. RESULTS:Growth mindset and perception of instructor growth mindset were significant predictors of medical student well-being. Further, significant interactions showed that these effects were strongest for students from historically marginalized backgrounds. DISCUSSION:Our work provides a first step toward addressing physician burnout by targeting medical students, which could prevent them from beginning their careers already in a state of burnout. We argue that systemic change is needed to improve student well-being, such as emphasizing growth mindset-supportive pedagogy, which places the emphasis on changing systems instead of individuals. Future research should include causal analyses to better understand the effect and persistence of growth mindset-supportive environments on student well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Although designed to prepare students for future coursework or to fulfill basic degree requirements, introductory math courses often serve as barriers to student success. In two double-blind randomized field experiments, we tested the efficacy of a utility-value intervention on improving community college students' perceived math relevance and achievement in introductory math courses. Building upon prior research, we examined whether the intervention particularly benefited first-generation and racially marginalized students. Study 1 (N = 696) was conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic and within in-person classrooms, whereas Study 2 (N = 1,318) was conducted during the pandemic and within virtual learning environments. Across Studies 1 and 2, students in the utility-value condition benefited more in terms of their perceived relevance compared to their peers in the control condition. Additionally, in both studies, math relevance mediated the effects of the intervention on math grades. In Study 2, with a larger sample, the positive effect of the intervention on math relevance was more pronounced for first-generation students. Our findings imply that community colleges could significantly improve students' academic experiences by investing in motivation-enhancing activities such as utility-value interventions in introductory math courses. This strategy could especially help first-generation students' academic achievement and retention rates.

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is an important driver of student well-being, academic achievement, and future success. Despite decades of work on motivation theory and frameworks to promote student motivation and achievement outcomes, connections between motivation and recent frameworks and measures of SEL could be stronger. The purpose of our chapter is to help address this shortcoming. First, we begin by reviewing which theories of motivation currently appear in major SEL frameworks. Second, we introduce how a more comprehensive theory of motivation (based on an expectancy–value–cost framework) could be incorporated into SEL frameworks to advance their overall impact. Third, using examples from our ongoing research in STEM classrooms, we show how a broader knowledge of motivation can inform practitioners on how to promote key SEL competencies and subsequent achievement and engagement for students, especially to address inequities for historically marginalized and minoritized students. Finally, we close with recommendations for future directions for research and practice.

A reality of conducting motivation research in educational settings is that there are tensions between technical standards of research and practical constraints of a given situation. Although adherence to standards for high-quality measurement is critical for good-quality data to be collected, measurement also requires substantial resources to ensure quality. In the current chapter, we discuss several examples of real data collected in different educational settings using a pragmatic measurement framework. Based on contemporary measurement perspectives, the pragmatic measurement framework emphasizes building evidence-based arguments to support the use and interpretation of a measure. Example 1 explores college students' attitudes toward general education classes. Example 2 tracks students' classroom motivation over several time points. Example 3 assesses experimental differences from an online motivation intervention. Together the three examples cover a range of possible research questions that researchers may encounter. As a whole, this chapter demonstrates that important and meaningful insights can be gained using pragmatic approaches to measurement. Importantly, we discuss the trade-offs that researchers or other measure users must consider when adopting a pragmatic approach to measurement.

A growing body of research suggests that interventions promoting students' utility value for a subject can improve their academic outcomes. However, numerous questions remain regarding how much to adapt prior intervention materials to promote utility value in new educational contexts and how implementation constraints of an educational context may impact the success of these interventions. In this study, using a design-based process we developed and tested three utility value interventions in a new educational context (online high school math). We found that one of the interventions increased utility value compared to control conditions, but we also encountered constraints on intervention implementation that limited the effectiveness of our intervention and the conclusions we could draw from this work. We use our experience as a case study to illustrate the costs and benefits of making certain implementation choices when partnering with practitioners to administer utility value interventions in new contexts.

A reality of conducting motivation research in educational settings is that there are tensions between technical standards of research and practical constraints of a given situation. Although adherence to standards for high-quality measurement is critical for good-quality data to be collected, measurement also requires substantial resources to ensure quality. In the current chapter, we discuss several examples of real data collected in different educational settings using a pragmatic measurement framework. Based on contemporary measurement perspectives, the pragmatic measurement framework emphasizes building evidence-based arguments to support the use and interpretation of a measure. Example 1 explores college students' attitudes toward general education classes. Example 2 tracks students' classroom motivation over several time points. Example 3 assesses experimental differences from an online motivation intervention. Together the three examples cover a range of possible research questions that researchers may encounter. As a whole, this chapter demonstrates that important and meaningful insights can be gained using pragmatic approaches to measurement. Importantly, we discuss the trade-offs that researchers or other measure users must consider when adopting a pragmatic approach to measurement.

In an article published in Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, Gaertner and McClarty (2015) discuss a college readiness index based, in part, on nonacademic or noncognitive factors measured in middle school. Such an index is laudable as it incorporates important constructs beyond academic achievement measures that may be important in assessing college readiness. It also holds potential in identifying areas of need at a critical time and can theoretically inform important interventions that may be necessary prior to the later stages of high school. However, one of the noncognitive factorsmotivationappeared to be theoretically incomplete, underrepresented, and contained items irrelevant to the construct of academic motivation. We offer our concerns about the validity of this factor as measured by the index and the associated implications about the consequences of using this to inform educational interventions. Through this commentary, we hope to offer constructive feedback on future research that can build upon Gaertner and McClarty's important work.

We replicated and extended prior research investigating a theoretically guided intervention based on expectancy-value theory designed to enhance student learning outcomes (e.g., Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009). First, we replicated prior work by demonstrating that the utility value intervention, which manipulated whether students made connections between the course material and their lives, increased both interest and performance of low-performing students in a college general education course. Second, we extended prior research by both measuring and manipulating one possible pathway of intervention effects: the frequency with which students make connections between the material and their lives. In Study 1, we measured connection frequency and found that making more connections was positively related to expecting to do well in the course, valuing the course material, and continuing interest. In Study 2, we manipulated connection frequency by developing an enhanced utility value intervention designed to increase the frequency with which students made connections. The results indicated that students randomly assigned to either utility value intervention, compared with the control condition, subsequently became more confident that they could learn the material, which led to increased course performance. The utility value interventions were particularly effective for the lowest-performing students. Compared with those in the control condition who showed a steady decline in performance across the semester, low-performing male students randomly assigned to the utility value conditions increased their performance across the semester. The difference between the utility value and control conditions for low-performing male students was strongest on the final exam (d = .76).

Although the Expectancy-Value Model offers one of the most influential models for understanding motivation, one component of this model, cost, has been largely ignored in empirical research. Fortunately, recent research is emerging on cost, but no clear consensus has emerged for operationalizing and measuring it. To address this shortcoming, we outline a comprehensive scale development process that builds and extends on prior work. We conducted a literature review of theory and existing measurement, a qualitative study with students, a content alignment with experts, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and a correlational study. In the literature and across our studies, we found that cost was salient to students, separate from expectancy and value components, contained multiple dimensions, and related to student outcomes. This work led to proposing a new, 19 item cost scale with four dimensions: task effort cost, outside effort cost, loss of valued alternatives cost, and emotional cost. In addition, to extend existing cost measures, careful attention was taken to operationalize the cost dimensions such that the scale could be easily used with a wide variety of students in various contexts. Directions for future research and the implications for the study of motivation are discussed.