Confirmation of Candidature - Daniel Griffiths

Students' Self-regulated Situated Expectancy, Value and Cost as Predictors of (Dis)engagement During Transition to University

ABSTRACT:

Individuals are increasingly required to balance immediate work commitments with opportunities for personal and professional development (Baik et al., 2015). Higher education plays a crucial role in providing such opportunities by helping students to develop skills and attributes that improve employability and influence personal growth. While recent pedagogical advances in higher education have increased flexibility for students, many practices continue to be informed by an outdated assumption that university study is an individual’s first, if not only, priority. More research is required to understand about the processes used by students to balance the prioritisation of longer-term investment in education against their more immediate needs.

The proposed research consists of two phases, designed to validate a framework that recognises relationships between principles of self-regulated learning (SRL) and Situated Expectancy Value Theory (SEVT), and their impact on student engagement during transition to higher education.

In Phase 1, structural equation modelling of self-report survey data will be utilised to explore relationships between situational, self-regulatory, and motivational influences on student engagement. Additionally, experience sampling methodology will be used with short scales of these factors, to explore dynamic shifts during the transition to tertiary studies with high temporal granularity. Finally, thematic analysis of interview and open-ended survey items will be used to explore the content validity of survey measures, and to provide student voices to the understanding of their experience.

In Phase 2, it is expected that a quasi-experimental design will assess interventions that target the development of self-regulation of motivation, and its subsequent impact on student success.

The proposed research will have both empirical and practical implications. It is expected that a synthesised model of the self-regulation of motivation in higher education will provide common ground for a “scattered” body of higher education literature. In addition, the research will be one of the first attempts to investigate self-regulatory motivational processes with a high degree of temporal granularity, using time-series methodology. The findings are likely to be of practical use to institutions as they continue to develop support, orientation, and retention strategies.

Supervisors

Associate Professor Jason Lodge

Dr Elizabeth Edwards

Panel

Associate Professor Kelly Matthews

Dr Stephanie MacMahon

Date: Friday 25 March

Time: 2:30pm

Room: 24-S302, level 3, Social Sciences Building #24

Zoom Link: https://uqz.zoom.us/j/88470693166?from=addon

All HDR Candidates and advisors are welcome to attend the presentation.