Learning and Achievement

Value in Learning 

The value placed in learning refers to why someone thinks the information is important or pertinent to their life.  With the modern expectancy beliefs theory we are able to recognize four types of values, utility value, intrinsic value, attainment value and cost. Adding value and meaning to a subject matter while learning is important to keep motivation and increase learning achievement. Using these four values, a student is able to create goals for the future and feel good about their achievement. It is important for students to place value on learning so that they can feel motivated and actually want to learn and succeed. 

• Intrinsic Value "I love learning about this topic"

• Utility Value "This isn't my favorite subject but it will help me reach my goal of becoming a doctor"

• Attainment Value "I want to prove to myself that I can succeed in this topic"

• Cost Value "I may have to take more time out of my day to work on this"

Expectancy in learning

Expectancy in learning refers to an individuals belief that they can learn and succeed. This expectancy can be influenced by many things. "Expectancies and values are assumed to be influenced by task-specific beliefs such as perceptions of competence, perceptions of the difficulty of different tasks, and individuals’ goals and self-schema." (Eccles and Wigfield). Expectancies can also be influenced by past experiences like doing poorly previously. If a student preformed poorly on the last two math tests their expectancy then goes down which can lower self-schema.

"Why did I fail" 

"Two students (named A and B) failed an important test and asked themselves: Why did I fail? Assuming they are being honest in their self- appraisals, Student A discloses “I failed because I am not smart enough.” And Student B admits, “I failed because I did not try hard enough.” Which student would you rather be?" (Graham and Taylor) 

Student A is representing learned helplessness or a lack of motivation and confidence in ones skill. On the other hand, student B is showing a resiliant and malleable mindset.  Perception and mindset play a large role in whether someone believes they can succeed and learn. If a student believes that their failure is due to a lack of ability they are more likely to give up and have a lower expectancy in themself. On the other hand, If a student believes their failure as a lack of effort they will keep trying in the future and are less likely to give up. Outside factors can also play a role in expectancy, for example if a student has struggled in a certain subject previously,  they may expect to preform poorly in the future and expectancy in this specific topic is lowered. 

In the comic of Calvin, he states that his bad grade is lowering his self esteem. Having a positive self schema can reduce low self expectancy. Based on the comic strips not only is Calvins expectancy low, but so is his value in learning.