The Roles of Interest and Self-Efficacy in the Decision to Pursue Mathematics and Science

Ninth‐grade students' perceptions of the factors that led them to major in high school science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines

“…This began a process of merging the individual variables into compound ones, which ultimately ended with two motivation clusters that subsumed all the relevant variables. On the one hand, we lost information and were unable to estimate the magnitude of each individual variable; on the other, a statistically significant and theoretically coherent model that showed the necessity for high concurrent levels of task value (especially interest and utility value) and self‐efficacy, a phenomenon that has been widely reported (e.g., Caspi et al, under review; Bong et al, ; Eccles, Fredricks, & Epstein, ; Lent et al, ). However, such reciprocal relations are sometimes missing.…”

“…This high correlation between the two variables that comprise “subjective task value” increases the possibility of multicollinearity, which may undermine their statistical significance in subsequent regressions (Montgomery, Peck, & Vining, ). To reduce such a possibility, we combined these two variables into one unified motivational variable named, in accord with EVT, “subjective task value.” As noted above, the use of all four EVT components of “task value” as a unified composite variable has been used by many researchers (Anderman et al, ; Bong et al, ; Jacobs et al, ; Nugent et al, ). Correlations are shown in Table .…”

“…In EVT, the two key motivation variables are “subjective task value” (interest, attainment, utility, and cost) and “expectation of success.” We begin with a preface to subjective task value. Some researchers score this item by grouping all four categories together (Anderman et al, ; Bong, Lee, & Woo, ; Jacobs, Lanza, Osgood, Eccles, & Wigfield, ; Nugent et al, ); others score “interest” separately from the other three variables, which they group together (Musu‐Gillette, Wigfield, Harring, & Eccles, ; Taskinen et al, ). Before adopting any approach, however, we ran factor analyses to test for the construct validity of both options.…”

Creative Drama In Science education: The Effects on Situational Interest, Career Interest, and Science-Related Attitudes of Science Majors and Non-Science Majors

“…According to the literature, content knowledge will influence one's learning (Mji & Makgato, 2006) and self-efficacy (Swackhamer, Koellner, Basile, & Kimbrough, 2009). Subsequently, self-efficacy influences a person's interest (Bong et al, 2015). Hence, a lower comprehension of science concepts among non-science majors might lead to a lack of career interest in science.…”

“…People with an interest in learning will set goals to achieve (Senko & Harackiewicz, 2002) and good learning strategies (Azevedo, 2013). They tend to have a better learning curve (Krapp, 1999), self-efficacy (Bong, Lee, & Woo, 2015), and self-regulation (Sansone & Thoman, 2005).…”