Factors Predicting the Extent to which STEM Students Value Cross-Disciplinary Skills: A Study across Four...

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• STEM Education

Background:

• Expectancy-value theory (EVT) posits that student motivation is driven by the perceived value of learning and the expectation of success.
• Student values and motivation are influenced by individual characteristics, including experiences, sociodemographics, and disciplinary norms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between STEM student characteristics and their values regarding cross-disciplinary skills.
• To determine how classroom experiences, discipline, research participation, and sociodemographics correlate with student values.

Main Methods:

• Surveyed 1162 graduating STEM students across four universities using the Survey of Teaching Beliefs and Practices for Undergraduates (STEP-U).
• Utilized Likert-scale questions to assess student values of 27 cross-disciplinary skills and frequency of 27 instructional methods.
• Employed Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA) and multiple regression for data analysis.

Main Results:

• Identified significant associations between student values and classroom experiences, STEM discipline, undergraduate research participation, and sociodemographic factors.
• Factor analyses revealed clear structures for perceived skill value and instructional method frequency.
• Findings were consistent across different institutions and STEM disciplines.

Conclusions:

• Student values in STEM are demonstrably linked to their academic and personal contexts.
• The study provides theoretical (EVT), methodological (EFA), and practical insights for STEM education.
• Results suggest avenues for future research on optimizing student motivation and value formation in STEM.