The Structure of Students' Motivational Beliefs in Mathematics and Their Relation to Academic Outcomes

The aim of this study was to examine elementary school students motivational beliefs related to mathematics learning, in accordance with the expectancy-value theory. We wanted to determine the structure of motivational beliefs in mathematics and to examine to what extent motivational beliefs are associated with different learning outcomes: achievement, readiness for further learning of mathematics and mathematics anxiety. The participants were 387 students of the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades from two elementary schools in Zagreb. The instruments we used were scales for measuring students' expectations and values, achievement goals and mathematics anxiety. We also collected basic demographic information about the participants and data on their past and current achievement in mathematics, as well as their assessment of readiness to continue learning mathematics. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis clearly support the structure of motivational beliefs in accordance with the expectancy-value theory. Significant motivational beliefs are expectation of success and three components of value assessment: interest, usefulness and importance. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that, besides achievement goals, expectations and values are important predictors of mathematics achievement, even when prior achievement is controlled.