Student Personal Beliefs & Behaviors – Subjective Task Value: Utility (Eccles Items)
- In general, how useful is what you learn in math?a
- Compared to most of your other school subjects, how useful is what you learn in math?a
- How useful is learning math for what you want to do after you graduate and go to work?b
It is recommended that these items be used on a 7-point scale that is anchored at the endpoints and in the middle with the following options: Not at all useful (0), Somewhat useful (3), and Very useful (6).
a Adapted from Wigfield, A., et al. (1997). Change in children’s competence beliefs and subjective task values across the elementary school years: A 3-year study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(3), 451-469.
b Adapted from Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (1995). In the mind of the actor: The structure of adolescents’ achievement task values and expectancy-related beliefs. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21(3), 215-225.
Descriptive Statistics:
Sample | Items | Alpha | Mean | Stan. Dev. | Skewness | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||
Middle School |
3 |
.76 | 3.66 | .91 | -.44 | |||
High School |
3 |
.71 | 4.03 | .82 | -.78 | |||
|
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Total |
3 |
.75 | 3.79 | .90 | -.55 |