VALUE OR STRUGGLE IN MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION? AN EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS STUDY

As an important motivation approach to learning, Expectancy-Value (EV) theory has been used in a wide range of fields from physical education to STEM education. However, no known studies to date have examined the underlying structure of EV theory in multicultural education, hence the purpose of this study. Participants were 121 college students who completed a survey assessing expectancy beliefs and task values. Exploratory factor analyses were performed comparing models with one, two, and three factors. The final model included two factors, labeled Value and Struggle. Value factor included 14 items, with loading ranging between .645 and .913. The marker item for this factor was "It is important to me personally to be proficient in cross-cultural communications". Struggle factor included 4 items, with loadings between .613 and .794. The marker item for this factor was "I am never good at communicating with people from different cultures". The two factors had a statistically significant negative correlation of -.232. Overall, we found partial conceptual support of EV theory into two distinct factors in the context of multicultural education: value and struggle, which is consistent with the tenets of the theory that the positive (value) and negative (struggle) task characteristics are primary motivating factors. Our study results showed that while multicultural education can be perceived with great value, the struggles that come with it may be a deterring factor. Further research needs to replicate our study to larger and more diverse samples to further examine the structural validity of the EV theory in multicultural education to help enhance the motivation and effectiveness of multicultural education.