Abstract:

To meet the needs of increasing student diversity and globalization and promote a more equitable and just education, multicultural education has become essential in the United States for over four decades (Banks, 1981). As an important motivation approach to learning (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002), Expectancy-Value (EV) theory has been widely used in a plethora of fields including physical education (Grasten, 2016), music education (Burak, 2014), and STEM education (Lykegaard & Ulriksen, 2016). Higher expectancy of success and task values tend to result in more motivation, persistence, resilience, and success. However, no known studies to date have examined the role of EV theory in multicultural education. In light of the domain-specific nature of the EV theory, the discrepancy between the theoretical framework and empirical models found in previous studies (McCormick & McPherson, 2007; Trautwein et al., 2012), the purpose of the study was to explore the underlying structure of the EV theory in multicultural education.

Participants were 121 college students who completed the adapted Expectancy-Value Questionnaire (EVQ) (Trautwein et al., 2012) including 20 items assessing expectancy beliefs and each of the four types of task values on a scale 1 to 7 (1-"not at all true of me", 7-"very true of me"). Exploratory factor analysis with the mean and variance adjusted weighted least squares (WLSMV) estimation procedure and GEOMIN rotation using Mplus 7.4 was employed within the exploratory structural equation modeling framework (ESEM). Models with one, two, and three factors were estimated. The optimal model was selected based on the interpretability of the factor solution, as well as based on a set of goodness of fit indices: a) chi-square ( 2) and its p-value, b) 2 divided by the degrees of freedom ( 2/df, c) root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) and its 90% confidence interval (CI), c) comparative fit index (CFI), d) Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), e) standardized root mean square residual (SRMR), and f) weighted root mean residual (WRMR).

The final model included two factors, labeled Value and Struggle. Value factor included 14 items, with loading ranging between .645 and .913. The marker item for this factor was "It is important to me personally to be proficient in cross-cultural communications". Struggle factor included 4 items, with loadings between .613 and .794. The marker item for this factor was "I am never good at communicating with people from different cultures". The two factors had a statistically significant negative correlation of -.232.

Overall, we found partial conceptual support of EV theory into two distinct factors: value and struggle, which is consistent with the tenets of the theory that the positive (value) and negative (struggle) task characteristics are primary motivating factors (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002). While multicultural education can be perceived with great value, the struggles that come with it may be a deterring factor. Resonating with previous results (McCormick & McPherson, 2007; Trautwein et al., 2012), the findings in our study suggest a need for further research replicated to larger and more diverse samples to further examine the structural validity of the EV theory in multicultural education in an attempt to enhance the motivation and effectiveness of multicultural education.

Keywords:

Expectancy-value theory, multicultural education, exploratory factor analysis, value, struggle.