NORDIANA MAT YAACOB

EDUC 252 (TT3): ASSESSMENT 4

This essay aims to discuss my educational experience that involves

motivation, the model that can best analyse my situation, its relationship with other
constructs and its application in my future classroom practice.
In my life I had never failed in English subject until I enrolled in matriculation. It
was a mid-term test and also my first college test. I was feeling pressured given that
my Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) would determine my chances in getting
the limited sought-after teaching courses at the university and consequently my
career later in life. Even back then I knew that I wanted to be an English language
teacher because I enjoy learning English as a second language. I reflected on the
reasons why I failed and attributed my failure to anxiety and question
misinterpretation. By doing that, this failure had unexpectedly become my stepping
stone towards a better grade because I was confident that I can improve my grade.
After all, the mid-term test only carried ten percent of the overall mark and I still had
eighty percent left to score. I got an A for the semester although I failed the mid-term
test
My situation can be best explained from the perspective of Expectancy-Value
model. This model highlights the aspects of individuals expectancy and value
towards their goal as contributing factors that lead to motivation. The relationship
between these two factors is multiplicative rather than addictive which caused it to be
sometimes written in its equation form: expectancy x value = motivation (Seifert &
Sutton, 2008). Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that my motivation increased
due to the fact that I had high expectation for success and I knew the value of my
goal. If either factor is zero, the motivation to work towards the goal is also zero
(Woolfolk, 2007). For example, if I believed that I am capable of getting a better
grade (high expectation) but the grade is not important to me (low value), or getting a
good grade is important to me (high value) but I did not think that I could achieve it
(low expectation), then I will not be motivated.
My expectancy is also more of Banduras (1997, as cited in Wigfield & Eccles,
2000) efficacy expectancy suggested in his discussion on self efficacy. He divided
expectancy into efficacy expectations and outcome expectancies. According to him,
efficacy expectation is an individuals belief of accomplishing a task while outcome
expectancy is beliefs that a given situation will lead to a given outcome. Bandura
1

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EDUC 252 (TT3): ASSESSMENT 4

(1997, as cited in Wigfield & Eccles, 2000) claimed that the expectancy construct in
Expectancy-Value model is a form of outcome expectancy and efficacy expectation
are more predicative of performance and choice than outcome expectancy. Although
Wigfield & Eccles (2000) agreed the latter, they disagreed with the former. They
argued that their work had measured the individuals expectations for success rather
than their outcome expectation, making them arrived to the conclusion that their
construct of expectancy is similar to Banduras efficacy expectation. Based on
Banduras claim on the better quality of efficacy expectancy, it is possible that I would
be less successful if I had an outcome expectancy such as I would only succeed if I
worked hard.
The value components of Expectancy-Value model are prominent in my
situation. Eccles and Wigfield (2002, as cited in Anderman & Wolters, 2006) has
identified four components of task values which are attainment value (the importance
of doing well on a particular task), intrinsic value (the enjoyment of doing the task),
utility value (the perceived usefulness of the task) and cost (the consideration of what
one must give up to engage in the task). Consequently, I have all the value types. I
knew that getting a better grade in the English subject is important (attainment
value), I enjoyed learning it (intrinsic value), I realised that a better grade would
increase my prospects of getting the my desired course (utility value) and last but not
least, I had to sacrifice my hobby of watching television a lot of times to do the
assignments in order to achieve my goal (cost).
My motivational issues can also be analysed through the perspective of
Attribution Theory. The relationship between Expectancy-Value Model and Attribution
Theory is supported by Beck (1978, as cited in Petri & Govern, 2004) who has
pointed out the conceptual reversal between expectancies and attribution. He
suggests that expectancy is a belief that one thing will follow from another while
attribution is a belief that one thing has followed as a result of another thing. Since I
never failed an English Paper before, I attributed my failure to causes like anxiety
and question misinterpretation. The pressure to perform made me anxious. My
heartbeat started to race and I developed a severe fear of failure which had played a
part in my failure as I misinterpreted the essay question.

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EDUC 252 (TT3): ASSESSMENT 4

My attributions of failure had also influenced me to value my goal more and

they did not stop me from having high expectations. Weiner (2000, as cited in
Woolfolk, 2007, p.390) suggests that most of the attributed causes for success and
failure can be characterised in three components which are locus (the location of the
cause whether internal or external) stability (whether the cause can be changed) and
controllability (whether the person can control the cause. These three dimensions
also have important implication because they affect expectancy and value (Weiner,
2000, as cited in Woolfolk, 2007, p.390). Thus, question misinterpretation and anxiety
are considered internal, controllable causes that affect my expectancy and value
which later contribute to my success.
My experience is very valuable to my future classroom practice as it gave me
insight into the importance of motivation in our learning. Motivation has the power to
direct and maintain our persistance to achieve our goals. I am now aware of the
strategies to help my students to cope with anxiety, raising their expectation
simultaneously increasing the value of their task. I could teach my anxious students
some relaxation exercises and encourage them to describe their feelings to their
friends to reduce their anxious feelings. (Woolfolk, 2007, p.388). In order to raise
expectation among students, I could adjust the task difficulty by planning appropriate
lessons, using teaching aids and providing help when needed so that it is possible for
them to experience success (Seifert & Sutton, 2008, p. 238). Increasing values
among students requires me to link the task to their personal interests, showing the
utility of the task in their daily lives and showing that the task is valuable to someone
they respect (Seifert & Sutton, 2008, p.238).
In conclusion, it is obvious that the Expectancy-Value model and its
relationship with self efficacy construct and Attribution Theory have helped me in
explaining my motivational issues. This model has explained the multiplicative
relationship between my expectancy and value and described the involvement of four
task values in my situation. Its association with self efficacy construct and Attribution
Theory are also seen to have affected my expectancy and value.

NORDIANA MAT YAACOB

EDUC 252 (TT3): ASSESSMENT 4

REFERENCES
Anderman, E. M., & Wolters, C. A. (2006). Goals, values and affect: Influences on
student motivation. In Alexander, P. A. & Winne, P. H. (Eds.), Handbook of
educational psychology (2nd ed.), (pp. 369-389). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Petri, H. L., & Govern, J. M. (2004). Motivation: Theory, Research, and
Applications (5th ed.). U.S.A: Vicki Knight.
Seifert, K. & Sutton, R. (2008). Student motivation. In Educational Psychology
(pp.106-132). Zurich: Global Text Project.
Wigfield, A. & Eccles, J. S. (2000). Expectancy-Value Theory of Achievement
Motivation. Journal of Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25 (1), 68-81.
Retrieved May 12, 2010 from
www.unco.edu/cebs/psychology/.../motivation.../wigfield_eccles00.pdf
Woolfolk, A. (2007). Educational Psychology (10th ed.). U.S.A: Pearson Education
Inc.