Math and science motivation: A longitudinal examination of the links between choices and beliefs.

TLDR

The study investigates how youths’ out‑of‑school activities influence their expectancies‑values and subsequent math and science course enrollment over time. Data were gathered from 227 students, tracking 5th‑grade activity participation, 6th‑ and 10th‑grade expectancies‑values, high‑school course enrollment, and math‑science grades from school records. Participation in math‑science activities predicted higher expectancies‑values, which in turn led to more high‑school courses than grades alone; gender differences were observed in means but not in these relationships.

Abstract

This study addresses the longitudinal associations between youths' out-of-school activities, expectancies-values, and high school course enrollment in the domains of math and science. Data were collected on 227 youth who reported on their activity participation in 5th grade, expectancies-values in 6th and 10th grade, and courses taken throughout high school. Math and science course grades at 5th and 10th grade were gathered through school record data. Results indicated youths' math and science activity participation predicted their expectancies and values, which, in turn, predicted the number of high school courses above the predictive power of grades. Although there were mean-level differences between boys and girls on some of these indicators, relations among indicators did not significantly differ by gender.