Value Beliefs

Description
Personal Reflection | 15 minutes

For students to be engaged, motivated, and performing well in math, they need more than skill—they have to believe in the value of the subject matter for their own lives so that they desire to learn it. In other words, positive value beliefs support math learning. This insight is explored by the Situated Expectancy-Value Theory [5], a theory that separates student beliefs into two categories. Expectancy beliefs are how well students expect they'll perform on a given math problem, but students bring more to math than expectations alone. Students also evaluate their relationship to math through four distinct value beliefs outlined below. These value beliefs greatly impact student success, especially when these beliefs combine with contextual factors like cultural stereotypes, home environments, and interaction with educators. By becoming aware of these value beliefs, math educators can leverage them to Expand Possibilities that students see in math. Click here to download this page as a PDF. This reflection activity can:

Help educators reflect on and engage with their students' value beliefs about math.
Help educators to consider the connections between value beliefs and math learning.

A diagram showing the four elements of value beliefs

Instructions

1. Interest: How enjoyable is math learning?

Students' expectations for how much they'll enjoy learning greatly impact their motivation to push through challenging math learning situations. Making learning enjoyable is a life-long practice, so give yourself the freedom to constantly experiment ways of teaching/tutoring to which students respond positively.

2. Utility: How useful is math learning?

Students come to math learning with assumptions about its usefulness before they even begin the first problem. For example, students may say 'When are we ever going to use this?'. Try pointing out the value of math throughout your instruction– Where do you see math show up in your life? How might what your student is learning help prepare them for their future?

3. Identity: How important is math learning?

For some students, math more readily relates to what they enjoy outside of class. For others, math may be less important to who they are. Not everyone should feel like they need to become a mathematician, but having a healthy math identity is important for all students.

4. Cost: How beneficial is math learning compared to the other subjects?

Math is but one of the many things your students learn. The reality is, that math might not be your student's favorite subject because they've found another subject that they are even more passionate about, and that's okay. We make trade-offs all the time (e.g., do I like learning math more or learning about animals?), but it's not a zero-sum situation. Try to find out what your students are most passionate about and point out how math is relevant in those situations (e.g., how does math show up in biology or the path toward becoming a veterinarian?).

Tips and Tricks

Inviting guest speakers. Inviting guest speakers from various walks of life to talk about how math shows up in their work and personal life models positive value beliefs in math learning. Introducing students to guest speakers puts a face (human connection) to the saying that math is everywhere. For more, explore the Role Modeling activity.

Engaging Families. Students' value beliefs often start in their home environments. Supporting parents and guardians, then, helps students develop positive value beliefs in their own learning. Consider providing brochures, websites, videos, etc. for families that clearly show how math learning at home can complement learning in tutoring programs and school.

Going Deeper. This resource builds upon findings guided by the Situated Expectancy-Value Theory. Some additional studies include: Brisson et al., 2017; Eccles & Wigfield, 2020; Harachiewicz et al., 2012; Rosenzweig & Wigfield, 2016.

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