The development and role of task motivation and task values during different phases of the school career
Year: 2010
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The present thesis focused on the development and the role of task motivation and task values at different phases of students school career, i.e., from kindergarten to the transition to secondary education. This thesis had three aims: first, to examine the developmental dynamics between task motivation, academic performance and self-concept of ability in mathematics and reading in a longitudinal study lasting from Grade 1 to Grade 7 of comprehensive school. The second aim was to examine the developmental dynamics between math- and literacy-related task motivation and arithmetical and literacy performance before the formal school career has started, that is, in kindergarten. In addition, developmental change in math- and literacy-related task motivation during the kindergarten year was examined. The third aim was to investigate what kinds of patterns of task-values adolescents show at the end of the last grade of comprehensive school and whether these patterns predict their educational and occupational expectations and school track. Three different datasets were used. The first data set reported here is part of the Jyväskylä Entrance into Primary School study. For this thesis 216 students at baseline were followed from the first to seventh grade of comprehensive school. The second dataset reported here is part of The First Steps pilot study, where 139 children were examined twice during their kindergarten year. The third dataset is part of the FinEdu study. For this thesis 614 students were examined twice during their final term of comprehensive school and for the third time 1 year after the first measurement. The results of the thesis suggest that math-related task motivation predicts subsequent math performance particularly in kindergarten, and that task values play a role in adolescents' occupational aspirations and educational expectations during the transition from comprehensive school to secondary education. By contrast, during the comprehensive school years it seems to be academic performance that contributes to later task motivation rather than vice versa. The results for reading-related task motivation differed from the results concerning math-related task motivation, suggesting that some essential differences exist in the role of task motivation in different school subjects.
Author: Jaana Viljaranta
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W113549615