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MOTIVATION IN EDUCATION AT A TIME OF
GLOBAL CHANGE

Series Editors:

ADVANCES IN MOTIVATION AND
ACHIEVEMENT
Stuart A. Karabenick and Timothy C. Urdan
Series Editor for Volumes 1–15: Martin L. Maehr
Recent Volumes:
Volume 10:Advances in Motivation and Achievement – Edited by Martin L. Maehr and Paul R. Pintrich
Volume 11:The Role of Context: Contextual Influences on Motivation – Edited By Timothy C. Urdan
Volume 12:New Directions in Measures and Methods – Edited by Paul R. Pintrich and Martin L. Maehr
Volume 13:
Motivating Students, Improving Schools: The Legacy of Carol Midgley – Edited by Paul R. Pintrich and Martin L.
Maehr
Volume 14:Motivation and Religion – Edited by Martin L. Maehr and Stuart A. Karabenick
Volume 15:Social Psychological Perspectives – Edited by Martin L. Maehr, Stuart A. Karabenick and Timothy C. Urdan
Volume
16A:
The Decade Ahead: Theoretical Perspectives on Motivation and Achievement – Edited by Stuart A. Karabenick and
Timothy C. Urdan
Volume
16B:
The Decade Ahead: Theoretical Perspectives on Motivation and Achievement – Edited by Stuart A. Karabenick and
Timothy C. Urdan
Volume 17:Transitions across Schools and Cultures – Edited by Stuart A. Karabenick and Timothy C. Urdan
Volume 18:Motivational Interventions – Edited by Stuart A. Karabenick and Timothy C. Urdan
Volume 19:
Recent Developments in Neuroscience: Research on Human Motivation – Edited By Sung-Il Kim, Johnmarshall Reeve
and Mimi Bong

ADVANCES IN MOTIVATION AND ACHIEVEMENT
VOLUME 20
MOTIVATION IN EDUCATION AT A TIME OF
GLOBAL CHANGE: THEORY, RESEARCH, AND
IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
EDITED BY
ELEFTHERIA N. GONIDA
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

MARINA S. LEMOS
University of Porto, Portugal

Emerald Publishing Limited
Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK
First edition 2019
Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited
Reprints and permissions service
Contact: [email protected]
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form
or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either
the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued
in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance
Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald
makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no
representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and
disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-78754-614-1 (Print)
ISBN: 978-1-78754-613-4 (Online)
ISBN: 978-1-78754-615-8 (Epub)
ISSN: 0749-7423 (Series)

CONTENTS
About the Editors
List of Contributors
Acknowledgments
Motivation in Education at a Time of Global Change: Theory, Research, and Implications for
Practice
Eleftheria N. Gonida and Marina S. Lemos
PART I
CURRENT MOTIVATIONAL THEORIES AT A TIME OF
GLOBAL CHANGE AND UNCERTAINTY
What Does Expectancy-Value Theory Have to Say About Motivation and Achievement in
Times of Change and Uncertainty?
Allan Wigfield and Jessica R. Gladstone
Relevant Education in a Changing World: Expanding Value for the Motivation Sciences
Jeffrey R. Albrecht and Stuart A. Karabenick
Seeking Stability in Stormy Educational Times: A Need-based Perspective on (De)motivating
Teaching Grounded in Self-determination Theory
Maarten Vansteenkiste, Nathalie Aelterman, Leen Haerens and Bart Soenens
Understanding Long-term Effects of Motivation Interventions in a Changing World
Cameron A. Hecht, Stacy J. Priniski and Judith M. Harackiewicz
PART II
MOTIVATION AT A TIME OF GLOBAL CHANGE:
INDIVIDUAL AND CONTEXTUAL FACTORS
Identity and Motivation in a Changing World: A Complex Dynamic Systems Perspective
Avi Kaplan, Joanna K. Garner and Benjamin Brock
Gender, Motivation, and Society: New and Continuing Challenges

Ruth Butler
The Role of Parental Beliefs and Practices in Children’s Motivation in a Changing World
Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen and Eija Pakarinen
Motivation and Achievement of Immigrant Students in Times of Economic and Political
Instability
Tim Urdan, Neha Sharma and Marli Dunn
PART III
MOTIVATION AND CURRENT CHALLENGES AT A TIME
OF GLOBAL CHANGE AND UNCERTAINTY
Supporting Motivation in Collaborative Learning: Challenges in the Face of an Uncertain
Future
Marja Vauras, Simone Volet and Susan Bobbitt Nolen
School Alienation and its Association with Student Learning and Social Behavior in
Challenging Times
Julia Morinaj, Kaja Marcin and Tina Hascher
Facing Motivational Challenges in Secondary Education: A Classroom Intervention in Low-
track Schools and the Role of Migration Background
Claudia C. Sutter-Brandenberger, Gerda Hagenauer and Tina Hascher
Index

ABOUT THE EDITORS
Eleftheria N. Gonida, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology and
Human Development in the School of Psychology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
Greece. Her research focuses on the development of motivation, avoidance behaviors in
school settings, self-regulated learning, and parental involvement in students’ school life and
has been published in international and national journals and edited volumes. She has been a
Fulbright visiting professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and a visiting scholar
at Stanford University. Dr Gonida has been actively involved as coordinator in the Erasmus
program (now Erasmus + , the EU program to support education, training, youth and sport)
for the last 20 years and is currently the Chair of the European Educational Programmes
Committee at the Aristotle University.

Marina S. Lemos, PhD, is an Associate Professor with Habilitation of Educational
Psychology and Development in the Department of Psychology at the Faculdade de
Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade do Porto (FPCEUP), Portugal. Her
research examines students’ academic and social motivation, with a particular focus on
students’ motivation goals, and how they influence engagement, achievement, and school
adjustment. Research has also focused on motivation for health behavior and treatment
adhesion. Research methods, namely in-depth and contextualized approaches to motivation,
are also a focus of interest. Marina S. Lemos is director of the Master degree in “Themes of
Psychology” at FPCEUP. She founded and is the coordinator of the “Initiation to scientific
research program for first cycle students” at FPCEUP. She has served as EARLI SIG
Motivation and Emotion coordinator (2013–2016).

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Nathalie Aelterman
Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, and Department of Developmental, Personality and Social
Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium
Jeffrey R. AlbrechtCombined Program in Education & Psychology, University of Michigan, USA
Benjamin Brock Department of Psychological Studies in Education, Temple University, USA
Ruth Butler Seymour Fox School of Education, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Marli Dunn Department of Psychology, Santa Clara University, USA
Joanna K. GarnerThe Center for Educational Partnerships, Old Dominion University, USA
Jessica R.
Gladstone
Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, USA
Eleftheria N.
Gonida
School of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Leen Haerens Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium
Gerda HagenauerInstitute of Educational Sciences, University of Bern, Switzerland
Judith M.
Harackiewicz
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Tina Hascher
Department of Research in School and Instruction, Institute of Educational Research, University of Bern,
Switzerland
Cameron A. HechtDepartment of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Avi Kaplan Department of Psychological Studies in Education, College of Education, Temple University, USA
Stuart A.
Karabenick
Combined Program in Education & Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
Marina S. LemosFaculty of Psychology and Education, University of Porto, Portugal
Marja-Kristiina
Lerkkanen
Department of Teacher Education, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Centre for Learning Environment and
Behavioural Research in Education, University of Stavanger, Norway
Kaja Marcin
Department of Research in School and Instruction, Institute of Educational Research, University of Bern,
Switzerland
Julia Morinaj
Department of Research in School and Instruction, Institute of Educational Research, University of Bern,
Switzerland
Susan Bobbitt
Nolen
College of Education, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Eija Pakarinen
Department of Teacher Education, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Department of Psychology, New York
University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Stacy J. PriniskiDepartment of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Neha Sharma Department of Psychology, Santa Clara University, USA
Bart Soenens Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium
Claudia C. Sutter-
Brandenberger
Department of Educational and Human Sciences, College of Community Innovation and Education, University
of Central Florida, USA
Maarten
Vansteenkiste
Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium

Marja Vauras Department of Teacher Education, University of Turku, Finland
Simone Volet
School of Education, Murdoch University, Australia, and Department of Teacher Education, University of
Turku, Finland
Tim Urdan Department of Psychology, Santa Clara University, USA
Allan Wigfield Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, USA

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
An edited volume is always the result of collaborative work. We wish to express our sincere
thanks to all those who have differentially supported the edition of Volume 20 of the
Advances in Motivation and Achievement book series. Firstly, we are grateful to the Series
Editors Professor Stuart Karabenick and Professor Tim Urdan for their honoring invitation to
be guest editors of this volume as well as for their trust in us and support throughout the
preparation of this volume. Secondly, we are thankful to all our colleagues who contributed
chapters to Volume 20. Their expertise in the field and their novel ideas about motivation in
education at a time of global change and uncertainty promote our thinking and scientific
inquiry in the field via the lens of the current intense, rapid, and worldwide life-changing
challenges and make this volume timely and unique. We also want to thank them for the great
collaboration which made this journey feasible and enjoyable. Thirdly, we would like to
thank the editorial staff at Emerald Publishing and especially Kim Chadwick, our
commissioning editor, for her high level professional guidance and support during all phases
of the volume preparation. Lastly, we also wish to extend our thanks to our families for their
continuing support and patience throughout this project. We wish the theoretical ideas,
research evidence, and recommended practical implications discussed in this volume get
translated into practice so that students, teachers, parents, the school/academic community,
and the whole society benefit from them the most.

Eleftheria N. Gonida and Marina S. Lemos

MOTIVATION IN EDUCATION AT A TIME OF
GLOBAL CHANGE: THEORY, RESEARCH, AND
IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
Eleftheria N. Gonida and Marina S. Lemos
ABSTRACT
The increased complexity of educational processes at times of global change calls for
new research and theoretical inquiry to address how changes such as economic,
social and political disruption, financial recession, international migration, and new
and rapid technological advancements affect education, schools, and student learning
and adjustment. Specifically for motivation in education, the fundamental assumption
is that, on the one hand, change and challenge have a significant impact on students’
and educators’ motivation to learn and achieve and, on the other hand, motivation
can have a significant impact on students’ and educators’ capacity to cope with
change and challenge effectively. This chapter introduces the reader to the present
volume in the Advances in Motivation and Achievement Series which is dedicated to
the role of motivation at times of change and uncertainty.
Keywords Achievement motivation; context; global change; learning; motivation in
education; uncertainty
Economic, social and political disruption, financial recession, international migration, as well
as new and rapid technological advancements have produced major changes throughout the
world regarding availability and access to knowledge, human communication, social
relationships, learning, and education. The term “liquid modernity” (Bauman, 2002) nicely
reflects the condition of constant mobility and change in all aspects of human life within
contemporary society. As socioeconomic, sociodemographic, and sociocultural conditions are
constantly changing in parallel with scientific and technological rapid progress, learning
environments are also evolving. The increased complexity of educational processes calls for
new research and theoretical inquiry to address how these global changes affect education,
schools, and student learning and adjustment. This volume is dedicated to the role of
motivation in that process.
Several years ago, Berliner (2002) argued about the complexity of educational
phenomena due to “the power of contexts, the ubiquity of interactions, and the problem of

‘decade by findings’ interactions” (p. 18). Specifically, Berliner (2002) points out that all
humans involved in schools (i.e., students, teachers, school principals, parents) are embedded
in complex and changing networks of myriad interactions and have “variable power” to
affect each other and be affected by everyday small- or large-scale life events and social
phenomena. This idea results in limited generalizability and shorter shelf life for research
evidence in the field of education, making it more difficult for educational scientists to
support school and classrooms. Consequently, in addition to many other reasons behind the
complexity of educational and learning processes, educational researchers should be alert to
the complexity of educational phenomena as a result of continuous changes.
Issues involving the impact of societal and economic changes have been studied within
the field of developmental psychology, especially with regard to transitions and positive
youth development. For example, Greenfield (2009, 2016, 2018) has introduced an
interdisciplinary theory of social change and human development as a unified framework in
order to better understand children and youth development and adaptation around the world.
Schoon (2007) examined young peoples’ adaptation to changing contexts and the role of
individual agency in shaping educational and occupational transitions. She found that, at least
in the British society, social changes and the associated increasing uncertainties in economic
and social developments have a differential impact on young people. There are those who are
able to benefit from them and those who are at risk for social exclusion and poor academic
outcomes, most of them coming from disadvantaged socioeconomic status and lacking access
to educational and work opportunities. This differential impact implies that human agency
and individual educational and developmental trajectories should be conceptualized within
contexts and not outside of them. Further, in their recent special section, Schoon and
Mortimer (2017) focused on the consequences of the “Great Recession” (i.e., the recent
economic recession in Europe and USA, see Bell & Blanchflower, 2011) for young people’s
self-perceptions, values, orientations, and socioemotional outcomes. Implications included
prolonged and precarious transitions from dependent childhood and adolescence to
independent adulthood due to limited employment and life opportunities, declined self-
perceptions such as self-confidence and self-worth, lower level of subjective well-being, and
declined trust in institutions but increased support and concern for others. The
abovementioned findings were more salient for young adults (18–25 years), a critical period
for successful transition to adulthood as well as for adult identity (e.g., Arnett, 2000; Schoon
& Silbereisen, 2017), even for those attending college or university.
Due to its essential role in the learning process, motivation theory and research are
examined to address change. In particular, in the field of education, sociocognitive theories of
motivation have emphasized the role of context in learning outcomes and educational
attainment acknowledging that learning (and education, in general) occurs within contexts.
Research in the field has consistently indicated large contextual effects on achievement
motivation, so that research conducted in different contexts or different time periods may
challenge previous scientific work. The issue of social changes and its potential effects on
student motivation become even more difficult to be studied and better understood when

global worldwide changes occur and transform the context itself. Specifically for motivation
in education, the fundamental assumption is that, on the one hand, change and challenge have
a significant impact on students’ and educators’ motivation to learn and achieve and, on the
other hand, motivation can have a significant impact on students’ and educators’ capacity to
cope with change and challenge effectively.
For example, global changes such as migration and technological advancement alter
learning environments (e.g., classroom heterogeneity and instructional methods) that in turn
affect student achievement motivation. Socioeconomic downturns are associated with the rise
in youth unemployment and job insecurity which in turn are associated with decline in self-
confidence and lower value of academic learning to bring positive change in their life (e.g.,
see Schoon & Bynner, 2017). However, change and challenge do not impact all students or
teachers in a uniform way. Challenging contexts may have different implications for students
(and teachers) who are motivated to approach novel situations as opportunities to learn,
improve or have new choices compared to students (and teachers) who are motivated to
avoid such situations because they consider them as threatening to their competence or very
demanding to deal with (Weiss, Freund, & Wiese, 2012). In the same vein, agentic striving
from ages 18 to 31 years, such as maintaining high aspirations, having clear career goals, and
searching intensively for a job, despite the declining economic and employment prospects
during the recent severe financial crisis, was associated with better socioeconomic outcomes
and adaptation (Vuolo, Staff, & Mortimer, 2012).
In other words, change, challenge, and/or uncertainty may be perceived either as an
opportunity or a risk. Perceptions of events or situations are often stronger predictors of
outcomes than the events themselves. For example, perceived economic pressure is a more
powerful predictor of mental health than the objective financial situation per se (Asebedo &
Wilmarth, 2017). For some populations though, such as immigrant, minority and refugee
students, those living in poverty, and poor achievers, change and uncertainty may be
particularly difficult and risk is more likely to take precedence over opportunity due to their
increased vulnerability. As mentioned previously, however, not all immigrant, minority and
refugee students, or students living in poverty are equally vulnerable (e.g., Motti-Stefanidi,
2018; Raver, Blair, & Willoughby, 2013; Vuolo et al., 2012 ). An important query for
motivation theory in the field of education is twofold: (1) to identify which, how, and when
motivational factors function as strengths under conditions of rapid and extensive change,
challenge, and uncertainty, and (2) how and when the changing contexts in which children,
adolescents, and youth live (i.e., family and school context) constitute protective factors for
optimal learning, adaptation, and well-being.
The present volume reflects upon several themes of motivation at a time when seemingly
apparent certainties, such as the “irreversible” good living conditions, appear to be
challenged by phenomena such as unemployment, rapid transformations of the labor market,
technological advancements affecting human communication, education, and life habits,
population mobility for several reasons, or political instability and democratic citizenship
under dispute. As already referred, inevitably, these phenomena both influence personal

motivation (e.g., goals, aspirations, future plans, competence beliefs, values, needs) and
challenge motivational models and paradigms that aim to capture the relationships between
societal changes and personal motivation and incorporate them into models of learning and
achievement. Thus, the volume addresses the association of global changes and social
transformations with the conceptual models and theories of motivation in education and
attempts a critical understanding of the role of current motivational theories during unsettling
times. It also features several challenges faced by students, teachers, and parents in coping
with change and in adapting to these transformations either as individuals or as contexts for
others.
Further, the volume offers ideas for the potential implications of motivational theory and
research for educational practice in times of continuous change and uncertainty. Despite the
gap between research and practice, teachers and policy-makers would be expected to “want
to know what the research says before making an important [practice-related] decision”
(Whitehurst, 2003, p. 12, see also Lemons, Fuchs, Gilbert, & Fuchs, 2014, p. 243). All
volume contributors offer insights about the educational implications of their theory and
research recognizing, however, that their work has been conducted in a particular time and
place. These practical implications need to be communicated to schools, families, and
communities. Collaboration and partnership networks between researchers (universities,
institutes), schools, and communities, in addition to education and preservice and in-service
training for teachers, school and educational psychologists, and parents (see Hatzichristou,
Adamopoulou, & Lampropoulou, 2014), should be promoted so that school and community
members become more aware of the role of motivation in academic learning, achievement,
school adaptation, and well-being. Moreover, these networks will let educators be armed with
evidence-based instructional and motivational practices in a changing world (see Lemons et
al., 2014), as those recommended by the volume authors. Only these collaboration pathways
will allow building motivationally adaptive learning environments, supportive teacher–
student relationships, positive peer relationships, and acknowledgment of student needs and
adversities. Most importantly, educators and parents should become aware of the role of
societal change that all the above constitute dynamic processes and that their work is in
competition with the constant societal change.
OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENT VOLUME
A number of questions related to how motivational theory and research can contribute to our
response to the challenges that students, teachers, parents, school communities, and
educational policy-makers currently face need to be answered. For example, what different
motivational theories have to say about motivation and achievement in times of change and
uncertainty and what are their implications for coping with the challenges the changing world
poses on students, teachers, parents, classrooms, and schools? Motivation in education,

including all different facets within alternative theoretical frameworks, is influenced by
personal, social, and cultural factors. Specifically for unsettling and challenging times, how
do individual (e.g., gender, identity, motivational beliefs) and contextual factors (e.g., family,
school, broader socioeconomic, and political conditions) influence student (de)motivation to
learn and succeed or induce classrooms and schools as (de)motivating contexts? Further,
although learning environments are constantly changing in relation to non-static sociocultural
contexts (or at least should be seen as constantly changing), there are specific historical
periods that are characterized by more intense, rapid, and worldwide life-changing challenges
like the one we currently experience. What are the most salient current challenges
motivational theory and research can contribute to? For example, how can motivational
theory and evidence contribute to the increasing classroom heterogeneity, to the ongoing
technological advancement or to school alienation?
Accordingly, the volume has been organized along three axes which constitute the three
parts of it: (1) current motivational theories at a time of global change and uncertainty, (2)
motivation at a time of global change: individual and contextual factors, and (3) motivation
and current challenges at a time of global change and uncertainty. Given the different
theoretical perspectives in the field and the diverse lenses for translating research evidence
into practice, the present volume (No. 20) in the Advances in Motivation and Achievement
Series was designed to open up a dialogue of voices, viewpoints, and methodologies about
our shared concerns on how to support achievement motivation in challenging times as a
means for children, adolescent, and youth successful academic trajectories and positive
adaptation to school. Toward this direction, we invited contributors representing different
theoretical perspectives (e.g., expectancy-value theory (EVT), self-determination theory,
personal investment theory, identity, relevance), conducting research on diverse topics of
achievement motivation (e.g., student motivational beliefs, teacher motivational beliefs and
practices, collaborative learning, new technologies and motivation, school alienation, etc.)
and with different populations (e.g., elementary, middle or high school students, college
students, immigrant students, low family income students, teachers, parents), and focusing on
individual and contextual factors (e.g., identity, perceived competence, gender, school and
family, political discourse) to cope with different current challenges (e.g., migration, poverty,
classroom heterogeneity, technological advancement).
All contributors of this volume come from the 15th International Conference on
Motivation which took place in Thessaloniki, Greece in 2016 and focused on the dynamic
interaction between challenging contexts and motivated persons. The conference was
organized by the EARLI SIG8 “Motivation and Emotion” and the School of Psychology,
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The volume has 11 chapters distributed in the three
parts referred previously. Both theoretical and research-based chapters are included, whereas
senior and young researchers in the field are represented. A further strength of Volume 20 is
its international scope. Contributors came from six countries (Australia, Belgium, Finland,
Israel, Switzerland, and the United States of America) with guest editors representing two
more countries (Greece and Portugal). It should be noted that several chapters could fit in

more than one part of the volume but the main focus of the chapter, at least to our view, was
used as the criterion for their inclusion in a particular part of the volume. A short description
of each of the 11 chapters follows.
Part I: Current Motivational Theories at a Time of Global Change
and Uncertainty
We begin with the chapter by Wigfield and Gladstone titled “What Does Expectancy-Value
Theory Have to Say about Motivation and Achievement in Times of Change and
Uncertainty?”). After describing expectancies and values as the EVT key motivational
constructs and their development and associations with performance and choice, the authors
discuss how children’s expectancies and values can “buffer” (or fail to buffer) the impact of
dealing with change and uncertainty in schools. Specifically, positive expectancies and values
for different school subjects are more likely to function as buffers against change and
uncertainty, whereas negative expectancies and values for different school subjects over the
school years do not only fail to do so, but are more likely to result in increased vulnerability
to challenging circumstances. The authors argue that these processes are related to students’
identification with school, their understanding or skepticism about the value of education to
bring significant changes in their life, their learning behaviors, as well as their intentions and
persistence to complete secondary school and pursue a university degree or drop out.
Wigfield and Gladstone also discuss major socializers, such as parents and teachers, as
buffers in children’s responses to change and uncertainty giving special emphasis on
immigrant and minority children. They show that, first, both socializers can foster positive
growth in children’s motivation and, second, that even brief motivation interventions can be
successful with respect to supporting children stay positively motivated in school.
In the next chapter titled “Relevant Education in a Changing World: Expanding Value for
the Motivation Sciences”, Albrecht and Karabenick discuss the significance of relevant
education in our changing world and argue about the need to expand the conceptualization of
subjective task value beliefs as proposed in expectancy-value theory. After clarifying the
meaning and different components of relevance as well as its relation to task value, the
authors introduce a sociocultural perspective on educational relevance appraisals. Changes in
the sociocultural contexts within which relevance appraisals are framed, both at a local and a
global level, affect the issues that students consider to be relevant to their educational
experiences and the values they attribute to school, studies, and educational opportunities. To
exemplify conceptual value and relevance, Albrecht and Karabenick provide examples of
how major societal changes in the past but also recent global events may impact the social
construction of educational relevance and constrain students’ beliefs about the value and
purpose of education itself. They also discuss relevance-based implications for practice and

provide specific recommendations for educators to make their teaching relevant to their
students.
Whereas the focus of the two previous chapters was on student motivational beliefs in
relation to change and uncertainty, in “Seeking Stability in Stormy Educational Times: A
Need-based Perspective on (De)motivating Teaching Grounded in Self-determination
Theory”, Vansteenkiste, Aelterman, Haerens, and Soenens focus on teaching motivational
practices. The authors argue that teachers can still optimally motivate their students despite
the complexity of societal, technological, and economic challenges that affect education and
schools and introduce a need-based coherent perspective on (de)motivating teaching
grounded on self-determination theory. They contend that, rather than isolated specific
motivational practices, such a conceptual rationale will provide teachers with a flexible
strategy that allows for adjustments to diversity, uncertainty, and change. Specifically, they
present the teaching wheel (circumplex model) which consists of four broader areas of
teaching (de)motivating practices (i.e., autonomy supportive, controlling, structuring, and
chaotic practices) and is described along two overarching dimensions (teacher need support
and teacher directiveness). The chapter points to the possibility that changing and unstable
circumstances may be perceived and dealt with differently as a function of psychological
need satisfaction. Although uncertainty and change are potentially need-threatening, the
teaching wheel can be used as a guide, first, by the teachers in their interactions with students
in order to support student autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and second, by school
principals in their need-supportive leadership style to enhance teachers’ resilience in coping
with change and instability.
In “Understanding Long-term Effects of Motivation Interventions in a Changing World,”
Hecht, Priniski, and Harackiewicz focus on motivation interventions in a changing world,
and specifically, on understanding the mechanisms underlying the long-term effects
motivation interventions may have. The authors introduce a comprehensive framework to
better understand how and why interventions that target motivational processes in education
may produce effects years after implementation. They distinguish three types of processes
through which interventions may produce long-term consequences: recursive processes, non-
recursive chains of effects, and latent intrapersonal effects. A variety of mechanisms of
change that lead to downstream effects are presented as particularly pertinent in today’s
complex, dynamic, and uncertain educational contexts. After describing three types of
motivational interventions that evidence long-term effects on educational outcomes (values
affirmation, utility value, and social belonging), the authors discuss the implications for
effective intervention design in terms of potential long-term effects so that students will be
able to cope not only with current challenges and uncertainties, but also with new challenges
that will arise in the distant future.
Part II: Motivation at a Time of Global Change: Individual and

Contextual Factors
Kaplan, Garner, and Brock in their chapter “Identity and Motivation in a Changing World: A
Complex Dynamic Systems Perspective” introduce a complex dynamic systems (CDSs)
perspective for motivational processes, named the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity
(DSMRI, Kaplan & Garner, 2017) as a better conceptualization of the identity motivational
system. Building mainly on personal investment theory (Maehr & Braskamp, 1986), the
authors describe role identity as a CDS comprising four interdependent motivational
elements (ontological and epistemological beliefs, purpose and goals, self-perceptions and
self-definitions, and perceived action possibilities) which emerge within the particular
context and reciprocally influence each other to manifest in emergent motivated action. They
also use the abovementioned DSMRI components to describe the nature of an adaptive
identity motivation system in a changing and uncertain environment. They present relevant
research and interventions and argue that complexity assumptions provide a more realistic
framework for identity and motivation that would result in robust and resilient functioning
and growth in the face of change, ambiguity, and unpredictability.
In the next chapter titled “Gender, Motivation, and Society: New and Continuing
Challenges”, Butler discusses gender and motivation in the context of the new and continuing
societal challenges. After differentiating boys’ and girls’ achievement motivational beliefs
and orientations (i.e., beliefs about competence, self-evaluative attributions and strategies,
achievement goal orientations), the author describes males and females in terms of general
motivational orientations such as “prove and protect” and “doubt and try to do better,”
respectively (Butler, 2014). According to the author, this general orientation constitutes the
main vulnerability for male and female students since boys more than girls prioritize proving
over acquiring competence whereas girls more than boys worry that they are not able
enough. Butler considers the development of female and male motivational beliefs and
orientations as the result of sociocultural factors such as parents, teachers, peers, social class,
and ethnicity and points out educational implications to mitigate the maladaptive
motivational orientations of boys and girls. Specifically, she discusses the creation of
mastery-oriented learning environments and the promotion of incremental beliefs as buffers
to maladaptive concerns about the ability for both girls and boys. However, she sets off the
alarm bell about recent essentialism views in scientific circles as well as socially and
religiously conservative values regarding gender differences as significant challenges to
educators and their attempts to promote optimal motivation for learning for the students in
the future.
The next two chapters discuss contextual factors related to student motivation in
changing societies. In “The Role of Parental Beliefs and Practices in Children’s Motivation in
the Changing World,” Lerkkanen and Pakarinen highlight the role of parents in children’s
motivation. Specifically, the authors focus on the role of parental beliefs, expectations, and
trust in their child’s teacher in supporting children’s interest in learning, self-concept of
ability, and achievement behaviors in the challenging and unpredictable future. Further, the

authors reflect on how today’s changing world and uncertainty may affect parental beliefs
and expectations in their child’s success and discuss technological challenges as well as
challenges related to family–school collaboration as particularly important for parents,
especially for those who are less educated or come from low socioeconomic status. After
providing some practical implications for parents, they stress the significance of effective
home–school partnerships, especially in the present challenging times, to meet the needs of
the children and enhance their motivation to learn and acquire skills needed in future society
and working life.
In “Motivation and Achievement of Immigrant Students in Times of Economic and
Political Instability,” Urdan, Sharma, and Dunn discuss the role of the current societal
context on immigrant and refugee student motivation. Specifically, they highlight the recent
anti-immigrant and anti-refugee political discourse and policies and their potential negative
influences on the academic motivation of immigrant students. The authors discuss theory and
evidence from different fields of research according to which they expect increasing levels of
stress and anxiety, decreasing feelings of belonging to school which affect the way teachers
view and treat them and increasing immigrant students’ experience of stereotype threat.
Then, they apply Maehr’s (1984) theory of personal investment as a comprehensive
framework for integrating the various components of motivation that can be applied to
understanding immigrant and refugee students’ motivation and achievement. The chapter
concludes with recommendations for how schools and communities can counteract the
hostile political discourse and promote higher levels of personal investment in education
among immigrant and refugee students.
Part III: Motivation and Current Challenges at a Time of Global
Change and Uncertainty
The next three chapters discuss some of the current challenges education faces under the
pressure of continuous changing and unsettling times. Vauras, Volet, and Nolen in
(“Supporting Motivation in Collaborative Learning: Challenges in the Face of An Uncertain
Future”) deal with the design and implementation of enriched learning environments which
require new sources of information and effective use of material and digital tools but at the
same time challenge both students’ and teachers’ motivation and engagement. Toward a
better understanding of engagement in such challenging environments, the authors introduce
productive disciplinary engagement (PDE) as a condition for sustained interest and
motivation. They provide three case illustrations in the field of science (veterinary science,
combined biology and chemistry, environmental science) which were designed to support
PDE and discuss the potential significance of PDE for collaboration, sustained disciplinary
and interdisciplinary interest, and motivation. Science was chosen because knowledge in this

field grows very fast along with technological development and requires proficient skills in
collaborative team learning by the young people, which also continuously change. Further,
the authors raise the strengths and weaknesses of PDE and underscore the role of the teacher,
especially for high school students, concluding that future research is not only faced with the
challenge of how to prepare young people for a rapidly changing world, but also how to
support the professional development of teachers and other instructors to support students.
In their research-based chapter titled (“School Alienation and its Association with
Student Learning and Social Behavior in Challenging Times”), Morinaj, Marcin, and Hascher
focus on school alienation during early adolescence as a current challenge that educators and
policy-makers have to face. School alienation from learning, teachers, and classmates was
examined in relation to classroom participation and delinquent behavior in school during a
one-year study (7th to 8th graders). In addition to a slight increase in school alienation and
decrease in classroom participation over the course of a year, earlier alienation from learning
and teachers predicted later failure to participate in the classroom, whereas earlier alienation
from teachers and peers predicted later delinquent behavior in school. The authors discuss
school alienation as a risk factor for young adolescents and their relationship with school and
learning, and provide implications for education in the attempt to reduce school alienation, to
stimulate student in-class participation and minimize the risk of delinquent behavior.
In the final chapter titled “Facing Motivational Challenges in Secondary Education: A
Classroom Intervention in Low-track Schools and the Role of Migration Background”,
Sutter-Brandenberger, Hagenauer, and Hascher focus on the motivational decline during
secondary education as one of the important challenges for educators, especially with regard
to students at risk, such as low achievers, students from low socioeconomic status and/or
having a migration background. The authors present a two-year multi-component
intervention primarily addressing the declining motivation of students attending the low
achieving track in Switzerland, including those students with a migration background.
Surprisingly, the intervention had limited effects, which also faded from the first to the
second year of the intervention, and there were no differences between students with and
without a migration background indicating that the intervention worked similarly for all
students independently of their background. However, migrant students in general reported
higher both autonomous and controlled motivation compared to non-migrant students. After
discussing potential methodological limitations, the authors discuss theoretical reasons about
the limited effectiveness of a long intervention and provide implications for further research
and practice.
Taken together, the chapters in this volume of the Advances in Motivation and
Achievement Series discuss motivational theory and evidence in the context of current global
societal changes and uncertainties. As already pointed out, these changes, ranging from
socioeconomic and political transformations to technological advancements, alter the
educational contexts at both the micro and macro levels. Psychological and educational
theory and research is lacking to guide our scientific inquiry on the impact of global societal
changes on learning and instruction generally and on motivation in education more

specifically (see also de la Sablonnière, Bourgeois, & Najih, 2013). Thus, the volume is
timely as it aims to cover this gap by providing a variety of frameworks and approaches to
indicate the continuously increasing complexity of motivation in education. The various
chapters feature different theoretical perspectives, focus on different motivational constructs,
acknowledge different factors affecting motivation in education, identify salient challenges of
our unsettling times, and suggest implications for practice. Most importantly, all chapters
underline the dynamic interaction between motivated persons and challenging contexts and
acknowledge “the odyssey to the Ithaca of learning” for individual learners, for specific
groups or for communities of learners who are at risk for academic disengagement, non-
identification with school, and academic failure. The volume is also relevant for better
understanding all those who are engaged, persistent, academically successful, and identify
themselves with school despite societal changes and challenges. We hope that readers will
appreciate the volume contents, find it timely, and discover novel and interesting ideas to
move forward.
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id=ED478983

PART I:
CURRENT MOTIVATIONAL
THEORIES AT A TIME OF GLOBAL
CHANGE AND UNCERTAINTY

WHAT DOES EXPECTANCY-VALUE THEORY
HAVE TO SAY ABOUT MOTIVATION AND
ACHIEVEMENT IN TIMES OF CHANGE AND
UNCERTAINTY?
Allan Wigfield and Jessica R. Gladstone
ABSTRACT
We discuss the development of achievement motivation from the perspective of Eccles
and colleagues’ expectancy-value theory (EVT), focusing on the importance of
children developing positive expectancies for success and valuing of achievement to
help them cope with change and uncertainty. Although research has shown that,
overall, children’s expectancies and values decline, recent studies show many
different trajectories in the overall pattern. Children’s expectancies and values predict
their school performance and choices of which activities to pursue in and out of
school, with these relations getting stronger as children get older. When children’s
expectancies and values stay more positive, they can better cope with change and
uncertainty, such as the increasing difficulty of many school subjects, or broader
changes such as immigrating to a new country. Parents can buffer children’s
experiences of change and uncertainty by encouraging them to engage in different
activities and by providing them opportunities to do so. Parents’ positive beliefs about
their children’s abilities and discussing with them the importance of school can
moderate the observed decline in children’s ability beliefs and values. For immigrant
and minority children, parents’ emphasis on the importance of school and
encouragement of the development of a positive sense of their racial/ethnic identity
are critical buffers. Positive teacher–child relations also are a strong buffer, although
research indicates that immigrant and minority children often have less positive
relations with their teachers. We close with a discussion on recent EVT-based
intervention research that shows how children’s beliefs and values for different school
subjects can be fostered.
Keywords Expectancy-value theory; development of motivation; immigrant and
migrant children; socialization at home and school

As the editors of this volume Gonida and Lemos discuss in their introduction/overview,
children around the world are growing up during a time of great global change, economic
challenges in many countries, and immigration of many children from their home countries
to countries around the world. The editors note that these changes can create a variety of
uncertainties that young people currently face. Examples include uncertainties about how
well they will do in a new school environment, whether education will give them better job
prospects and brighter economic futures, and whether they (immigrant children and/or
minority children) will be accepted by adults who will have a large impact on their lives
(such as teachers), most of whom will be from the majority group in a given country. Gonida
and Lemos note in their introduction that children’s motivation can impact their capacity to
cope with both change and uncertainty.
In this chapter, we discuss the role of constructs and processes from one major theory of
motivation, expectancy-value theory (EVT; Eccles, 2009; Eccles-Parsons et al., 1983;
Wigfield, Tonks, & Klauda, 2016) in helping children to cope with change and uncertainty in
certain aspects of their lives, particularly their experiences and outcomes in school.
Expectancy-value theorists focus on two fundamental issues: (1) the nature of children’s
motivational beliefs, values, and goals for different activities, how they change over time,
and how they impact both performance on the activity and choices made regarding whether
to continue with them; and (2) how socialization practices in the home and school influence
children’s developing expectancies, values, and goals (see Eccles-Parsons et al., 1983;
Wigfield et al., 2016).
We organize the chapter as follows. First, we discuss how children’s motivational beliefs
and values develop, predict their performance and choice of activities in different areas, and
help them deal with change and uncertainty. We focus in particular on how minority or
immigrant status in the USA can create uncertainties with respect to children’s experiences
and outcomes in school, such as the nature of their relations with their teachers, their grades,
and whether they should continue in school. We next discuss parents’ socialization practices
and teacher–student relations and how they can impact children’s developing motivation, as
well as buffer negative effects of change and uncertainty, or perhaps exacerbate them. Then,
we discuss recent intervention work on how to enhance students’ motivational beliefs, values,
and school achievement. We finish with suggestions for future research.
EXPECTANCY-VALUE THEORY: AN OVERVIEW
We focus in this chapter primarily on Eccles’ and colleagues’ (e.g., Eccles, 2005, 2009;
Eccles-Parsons et al., 1983; Wigfield & Eccles, 1992; Wigfield, Rosenzweig, & Eccles,
2017; Wigfield et al., 2016) expectancy-value model of performance and choice as it has
guided most of the expectancy-value research that has been done in a variety of countries
over the last 30 years. In their theorizing and research, Eccles and her colleagues have

focused on how expectancies, values, and their determinants influence choice, persistence,
and performance. They also have examined the developmental course of children’s
expectancies and values. They initially developed the model to help explain gender
differences in mathematics expectancies and values and how these influenced boys’ and girls’
choices of mathematics courses and majors. The gender differences in part were based on
challenges girls faced (and often still face) in math classrooms, so the theory is quite germane
to helping us understand how children cope with challenges and uncertainty.
Eccles-Parsons et al. (1983) proposed that individuals’ expectancies and values directly
influence performance and task choice. Their expectancies and values themselves are
influenced by their task-specific beliefs such as their beliefs about their competence, and
their goals and self-schema, along with their affective memories for different achievement-
related events. These beliefs, goals, and affective memories are influenced by individuals’
perceptions of other peoples’ attitudes and expectations for them and by their own
interpretations of their previous achievement outcomes. Children’s perceptions and
interpretations are influenced by a broad array of social, personal, and cultural factors. These
include socializers’ (especially parents and teachers but also peers) beliefs and behaviors,
children’s prior achievement experiences and aptitudes, and the cultural milieu in which they
live. Wigfield and colleagues (2016) provide a detailed review of recent research based in
EVT, and Tonks, Wigfield, and Eccles (in press) discuss the model’s applicability to
children’s development in different cultures.
Defining the Expectancy, Value, and Ability Belief Constructs in
the Model
Eccles-Parsons et al. (1983) defined expectancies for success as children’s beliefs about how
well they will do on an upcoming task (e.g., how well do you think you will do in math next
year?). Ability (or competence) beliefs are children’s evaluations of their current competence
or ability, both in terms of their assessments of their own ability and also how they think they
compare to other students. Although Eccles and colleagues distinguished these two beliefs
theoretically, they strongly overlap empirically (Eccles & Wigfield, 1995). Thus, in this
chapter, we will use these terms interchangeably, for the most part.
Eccles and her colleagues define values with respect to the qualities of different tasks
and/or subject areas and how those qualities influence the individual’s desire to do the task
(Eccles, 2005; Eccles-Parsons et al., 1983; Wigfield & Eccles, 1992). Eccles-Parsons et al.
(1983) proposed that individuals’ overall subjective task values are positively influenced by
three components: attainment value or importance, intrinsic value, and utility value (UV) or
usefulness of the task, and negatively influenced by one component: cost (see Eccles-Parsons
et al., 1983; Wigfield & Eccles, 1992; Wigfield et al., 2017, for more detailed discussion of

these). Eccles-Parsons et al. defined attainment value as the importance of doing well on a
given task. Attainment value incorporates identity issues; tasks are important when
individuals view them as central to their own sense of themselves, or allow them to express
or confirm important aspects of the self (Eccles, 2009). Intrinsic value is the enjoyment one
gains from doing the task. When children intrinsically value an activity, they often become
deeply engaged in it and can persist at it for a long time. This component is similar in certain
respects to notions of intrinsic motivation and interest (see Ryan & Deci, 2016; Schiefele,
2009). UV or usefulness refers to how a task fits into an individual’s future plans, for
instance, taking a math class to fulfill a requirement for a science degree. In certain respects,
UV is similar to extrinsic motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2016), because when doing an activity
out of UV, the activity is a means to an end rather than an end in itself. However, the activity
also can reflect some important goals that the person holds deeply, such as attaining a certain
occupation.
In contrast to these three generally positive influences, perceived cost negatively
influences individuals’ overall valuing of an activity because it is what the individual has to
give up to do a task (e.g., do I do my math homework or spend time on Instagram?), as well
as the anticipated effort one will need to put into task completion (is working this hard to get
an A in math worth it?), among other things. Eccles-Parsons et al. (1983) emphasized that
cost is especially important to choice because choosing one activity and investing time in it
means that other potentially valued activities can’t be done. The research on cost has
burgeoned in the last 10 years (see Wigfield et al., 2017, for a detailed discussion). We return
to its impact on children’s experiences of uncertainty and change later.
Development of Children’s Expectancy Beliefs and Task Values
Researchers in many different countries have found that the normative pattern of change in
children’s expectancies and values is declining (see Wigfield et al., 2015, for review). Many
young children (but not all; see Heyman, Dweck, & Cain, 1992) are quite optimistic about
their competencies in different areas, and this optimism changes during middle childhood to
greater realism and (sometimes) pessimism for many children. Researchers have also shown
that there are different trajectories in children’s competence beliefs and values, with some
showing increases during the high school years, indicating that the normative pattern does
not capture the trajectories of all children (Archambault, Eccles, & Vida, 2010; Musu-
Gillette, Wigfield, Harring, & Eccles, 2015). However, most of these trajectories show
decline as well; particularly relevant to this chapter is Archambault et al.’s finding that
children whose literacy competence beliefs and value declined most included boys and
students of lower socioeconomic status (SES). To date, there has been very little work on the
development of perceived costs of different activities. Along with the normative decline,
researchers (e.g., Eccles et al., 1989; Wigfield et al., 1997) showed that children’s beliefs and

values become more stable over time. For example, Eccles et al. showed that the correlation
of sixth-grade children’s math ability beliefs with their beliefs at seventh grade was 0.52;
Wigfield et al. showed the same correlation for second- and third-grade children was 0.27.
Relations of Children’s Expectancies and Values to Performance
and Choice
Many studies done in different countries show that children, adolescents, and adults’
expectancies for success and achievement values predict various achievement outcomes and
choices of which activities to do (e.g., Bong, Cho, Ahn, & Kim, 2012; Musu-Gillette et al.,
2015; Trautwein et al., 2012). Students’ expectancies for success and beliefs about ability are
among the strongest direct psychological predictors of performance. Students’ subjective task
values directly predict both intentions and actual decisions regarding persisting during
different activities, such as taking mathematics and English courses. Because children’s
expectancies and values relate positively to each other, their expectancies indirectly influence
choice, and values do so for performance. Several researchers have found that cost negatively
predicts adolescents’ and college students’ achievement, plans to take AP courses, and plans
to pursue science careers or graduate school in general (Kirkpatrick, Chang, Lee, Tas, &
Anderman, 2013; Perez, Cromley, & Kaplan, 2014). Finally, work by Nagengast, Trautwein,
and their colleagues (e.g., Nagengast et al., 2011; Trautwein et al., 2012) showed that there
are interactions of children and adolescents’ expectancies and values on their school
performance. Nagengast et al. found these interactions in samples of adolescents from around
the world.
The relations between children’s expectancies and values and indicators of performance
strengthen across the school years (Simpkins, Davis-Kean, & Eccles, 2006; Wigfield et al.,
1997). Importantly, they also extend over time (Musu-Gillette et al., 2015; Simpkins,
Fredricks, Davis-Kean, & Eccles, 2006). For instance, Musu-Gillette et al. (2015) found that
students’ valuing of math measured in elementary school predicted their college major
choice. Simpkins et al. (2006) found that children’s participation in math and science
activities in late elementary school related to their subsequent expectancies and values in
these areas, which in turn predicted the number of math and science courses they took
through high school. The findings that the strength of these relations increase across age and
extend over time could mean that positive expectancies and values increasingly could buffer
children’s responses to challenges they face, and negative ones leave children more
vulnerable over time; we discuss this in more detail in the next section.

Expectancies and Values as Buffers against Change and
Uncertainty
We believe children and adolescents’ expectancies and values both separately and together
can impact the way they deal with change and uncertainty. First, when children develop and
maintain positive expectancies and values for different school subjects, they are more likely
to succeed in them and continue to take classes in these subject areas even as they become
more challenging and difficult (e.g., how math gets increasingly difficult at different levels of
complexity). Continuing success on these activities will strengthen children’s expectancies
for further success, and likely their valuing of them as well, reducing uncertainties children
might have about whether they can keep moving forward in math. Ultimately, children’s
positive beliefs and values and continuing success will help them complete secondary school,
and more broadly to understand that education is important and will gain them brighter
futures.
The opposite occurs for children with low expectancies for success and valuing of
different school subjects; for them as classes become more difficult, their uncertainties about
whether they can handle the material will increase. These uncertainties likely lead children to
stop taking classes that they think are too difficult, and perhaps even to drop out of school,
because school “costs” too much in terms of time and effort (Alexander, Entwisle, &
Kabbani, 2001; Archambault, Janosz, Fallu, & Pagani, 2009). So children’s expectancies and
values can “buffer” (or fail to buffer) the impact of dealing with activities as they change to
become more challenging and reduce (or not reduce) their uncertainty about being able to
handle the material; these processes have consequences for their broader valuing of school
and its potential benefits for them. Children whose expectancies and values for different
school subjects decline strongly over the school years likely are most vulnerable to
challenging circumstances and may be increasingly uncertain about what lies ahead for them.
Second, children’s ability to balance their expectancies and values for different activities
so that they are in synchrony with one another can buffer the impact of change and
uncertainty. Harter (1990), following James (1892), proposed and found that when children
have low expectancies for success for activities they continue to value they are at risk for low
self-esteem and even depression. One way for children to have expectancies and values that
are in synch is to strengthen the value they hold for activities at which they are competent
(see Eccles, 2009). Having “in sync” expectancies and values provide further buffering of
children’s experiences of change and uncertainty, buffering that likely is stronger than the
effects of each alone, and certainly stronger than situations in which their expectancies and
values are not in sync.
Another way to be “in sync” is for children and adolescents who have low expectancies
for success for certain school subjects to devalue them. Harter (1990) and Eccles (2009) both
discuss how having low expectancies for and doing poorly on academic areas that individuals
devalue does not lower their self-esteem. However, for some children, especially those from

groups who have been discriminated against in a given culture, this devaluing can lead to
disidentification with school, or deciding that school achievement is not an important part of
how they define themselves (see Murdock, 2009, for discussion of the work on
disidentification in African-American students at different levels of education).
Unfortunately, these children and adolescents’ disidentification with school may make it
more likely that they will disengage from school and ultimately, drop out. Dropping out of
course has many negative consequences for adolescents’ economic futures, among other
things (Finn, 1989).
Are there social influences that can also impact the development of children’s
expectancies and values? How parents and teachers influence children’s expectancies and
values, and their coping with change and uncertainty is the topic of the next section.
PARENTS AND TEACHERS’ ROLES AS BUFFERS IN
CHILDREN’S RESPONSES TO CHANGE AND
UNCERTAINTY
In this section, we discuss how parents’ beliefs regarding their children’s skills and their
interactions with their children can either buffer the impact of change and uncertainty on
children or worsen the challenges many children face. We also discuss the impact of students’
relations with teachers on their dealing with change and uncertainty.
The Role of Parents
We begin this section with a brief discussion of EV theorists’ perspective on how parents’
beliefs and behaviors impact their children’s own competence beliefs and values and research
findings on these topics.
1
Eccles-Parsons et al. (1983; see also Eccles, 1993) proposed that
parents’ perceptions of their children’s competencies directly impact children’s own
competence beliefs and values. She and her colleagues (e.g., Wigfield et al., 2015) discussed
a variety of ways in which parents can positively impact children’s motivation and
achievement (see also Simpkins et al., 2006). EVT researchers have found that parents’
encouragement of their children to participate in different activities, opportunities they
provide for their children, time spent with them and provision of materials used for learning
mediate the relationship between parent and family characteristics and child outcomes such
as achievement and motivation in school (see Simpkins, Fredricks, & Eccles, 2015; Wigfield
et al., 2015). For instance, LeFevre et al. (2009) found that parents’ active involvement with

their children positively impacts their children’s motivation and achievement. Simpkins,
Fredricks, and Eccles (2012) showed that children whose parents provide more learning
materials in the home are more likely to have higher ability beliefs, values, and achievement
in various domains. However, many parents, particularly low-SES parents from both majority
and minority groups in a culture, often have limited resources to provide such materials and
activities to their children.
Parents’ beliefs are influenced by their perceptions of their own children but often follow
cultural stereotypes. For example, Fredricks, Simpkins, and Eccles (2005) and Simpkins et
al. (2015) found that parents perceive their sons as having more ability in math than their
daughters and also provide their sons and daughters with different opportunities to participate
in various activities based solely on their gender. Simpkins and colleagues (2015) showed
that these “gendered”-specific beliefs are consistent and strong predictors of student
motivation and achievement, even when other variables such as children’s actual competence
are controlled.
Researchers have shown that there are cultural differences in the relations of parents’
beliefs and practices to their children’s outcomes (Fan, Williams, & Wolters, 2012; X. Fan &
Chen, 2001). For example, W. Fan and colleagues (2012) found that parental advising and
parent–school communication was positively related to Hispanic students’ English self-
efficacy and intrinsic motivation, but negatively related to Asian American student’s
mathematics intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy. Therefore, there likely are cultural
differences in which parenting practices can buffer or hinder their children’s reactions to
changing circumstances and uncertainties (see Tonks et al., in press, for further discussion).
Turning specifically to how parents may buffer their children’s experiences of challenge
and uncertainty, Fredricks and colleagues (2005) found that parents with positive ability
beliefs for their children’s math, reading, and sports abilities while the children are in early
elementary school can help buffer the decline that has been so often observed in children’s
motivational beliefs and values. One way in which ethnic minority parents’ socialization
practices can act as a buffer during times of uncertainty, such as when the family immigrates
to a new country, is by encouraging their child to develop a strong sense of racial or ethnic
identity. Students who develop a strong sense of identity are more likely to stay engaged and
motivated in school (Murdock, 2009; Wigfield et al., 2015; see also Kaplan, this volume). A
strong sense of racial or ethnic identity can help buffer the effects of discrimination and
protect their self-worth (Wong, Eccles, & Sameroff, 2003). Further, children who have
developed a strong sense of ethnic/racial identity are potentially less likely to view academic
achievement as a costly activity due to things such as stereotype threat. Additionally, having
a strong identity can mitigate the effects of one’s peers’ sometimes negative reactions to their
valuing of high achievement in school (Murdock, 2009; Wigfield et al., 2015); this is the
social dimension of cost we discussed earlier.
Many people immigrate to a new country for economic and educational opportunities
(Perreira, Chapman, & Stein, 2006; Suárez-Orozco et al., 2010). Thus, these parents likely
place a high value on their children’s education and are likely to transmit this valuing to their

children through various activities. For example, parents who talk about the long-term
benefits of their children’s schooling are likely to have children who put in more effort and
value school more than children whose parents do not relay these types of messages
(Ceballo, Jocson, & Francheska, 2017). Interestingly, Stanat and Christenson (2006) found,
using the PISA 2003 data, that immigrant adolescents in many countries had higher
competence beliefs and interest in math than did the native adolescents. One possible reason
for this could be because of the messages immigrant children receive from their parents
affirming their ability to do well in school. Interestingly, it is first-generation immigrant
children who have more positive motivational beliefs and values. By contrast, in what some
researchers call the “immigrant paradox,” many second-generation immigrants actually have
lower motivation and achievement, despite in all likelihood being more acculturated into the
majority culture in the country to which they immigrated (Marks, Ejesi, & García Coll,
2014). Researchers and policy-makers still are working to understand the processes behind
this paradox.
Parents’ beliefs and socialization practices can also help buffer the negative effects of
economic insecurity. Research has demonstrated that children in high-SES families perform
better academically and typically have more positive competence beliefs and values for
school (Mahoney, Vandell, Simpkins, & Zarrett, 2009). This is likely because of the ease of
access high-SES families have to resources and opportunities, as well as parents’ own
educational experiences and success (e.g., most will have themselves attended college). Such
parents often are more comfortable in school settings and know how to help their children be
successful in school. However, low-SES parents’ socialization practices can help offset some
of the negative effects of living in poverty. For example, parent involvement at the school
level may be difficult for some low-SES parents due to time limitations because of working
multiple jobs and language barriers. However, socialization practices at home can moderate
these effects; one example is providing games and other educational materials (if they are
able to) that promote math skills, or skills in other areas (LeFevre et al., 2009; Motti-Stefandi
& Masten, 2017).
The Roles of Teachers
Our discussion of schooling’s impact on students’ developing expectancies and values has to
be constrained due to space limitations; see Roeser, Urdan, and Stephens (2009) for an
extended discussion regarding the many different aspects of schooling’s impact on students’
motivation and achievement. We focus here on teacher–student relations.
When teachers support students emotionally and instrumentally, they have higher
expectations for success, more positive social and academic goals, value school more, and
are more willing to engage in school activities (see Wentzel, 2016 for review). These
relations emerge even when children’s relations with peers and parents are taken into

account. Teachers’ relations with students are crucial to students’ early adjustment in school
(Birch & Ladd, 1998), and the importance of such relations continues into middle and high
school. Goodenow (1993) reported that middle school students’ perceptions of support from
teachers and their sense of belongingness in their classrooms related strongly to their
perceived valuing of the schoolwork in which they were engaged. Such relationships may be
particularly important for children who do not have positive relations with their parents.
Positive relations with teachers can make up for the lack of emotional and other kinds of
support at home, at least in part. However, research done in the USA shows that the
development of these positive teacher–student relations can be difficult for some groups.
Children from some minority groups (e.g., African-American children) generally have more
difficult relations with their (mostly white) teachers, and again positive relations with one or
more teachers could make up for the more general problem of difficult teacher–student
relations (Jussim, Robustelli, & Cain, 2009; Murdock, 2009; Wentzel, 2009, 2016).
One aspect of teacher–student relations that can impact children’s developing motivation
is teachers’ expectations for students’ success (see Jussim et al., 2009, for review). Jussim et
al. noted that teachers’ expectations are for the most part accurate in the sense of how
strongly they relate to students’ achievement. However, they also discuss how these
expectations can act as self-fulfilling prophecies; when teachers expect students to do well
they often do end up doing better, and when teachers expect students to do poorly, they tend
to do so. Further, Weinstein and her colleagues (Mckown & Weinstein, 2008; Weinstein,
Marshall, Sharp, & Botkin, 1987) showed that even in the early elementary grades, children
are aware of teachers’ expectancies for different students, and how teachers treat students for
whom they have high and low expectancies differently.
Jussim et al. (2009) noted that although the effect sizes for how strongly teachers’
expectancies act as self-fulfilling prophecies are relatively weak overall, they are much
stronger for children from lower-SES backgrounds and for African-American students. One
reason for this could be (as discussed earlier) that children from lower-SES backgrounds and
ethnic minority students often perceive their relations with their teachers as less positive,
with this perception getting stronger as students move through school.
The decline in many children’s motivational beliefs and values as they go through school
are particularly large for students who are doing poorly (either emotionally or academically)
in school (see Eccles & Roeser, 2009). The early adolescent time period can be a particularly
difficult time for these children. Wigfield et al. (2015) and others discussed how the multiple
changes that occur during this time period (e.g., puberty, school transitions, changing
relations with parents, increasing concern with identity) likely have an impact on students’
motivation and achievement (see Eccles & Roeser, 2009; National Research Council (NRC),
2004 for more detailed discussion). With respect to teacher–student relations, because middle
and high schools are much larger than elementary schools (at least in the USA), teachers
have many more students in their classes and so it is more difficult for them to get to know
their students. Thus, during early adolescence and adolescence when children need emotional
and instrumental help from adults, teachers may be less able to play these roles because of

the constraints imposed by schools’ organization and structure during these critical
developmental periods. As a result, they may be less able to buffer the impact of change and
uncertainty during adolescence.
Many ethnic minority children and children from low-SES households report having high
perceptions of ability in various domains, even when doing poorly in school (Shernoff &
Schmidt, 2008; Stanat & Christenson, 2006). One reason for this could be positive messages
these children are receiving from their parents. However, it could also be due to their
relations with their teachers. Ethnic minority children and those coming from low-SES
households are more likely to experience additional stress and challenges in their home-lives
(Spencer & Markstrom-Adams, 1990). Thus, these particular children may view being in
school as less stressful than being at home due to them having an organized schedule while at
school and receiving attention and supervision from teachers and other adults in school
settings (Shernoff & Schmidt, 2008). However, the interactions these students have with their
teachers and others in the school would need to be positive in order to be most beneficial for
students’ expectancies and values, which in turn can buffer the negative impact of
uncertainties on them.
As discussed earlier positive teacher–student relations and teacher expectancies for
students can foster students’ expectancies and values and, by extension, also buffer the
impact of negative influences such as stereotypes about a group’s likely poor performance
and actual discrimination (Goodenow, 1993; Murdock, 2009; Wentzel, 2016). Unfortunately,
in the USA, this is less likely to happen for poor children and those from some minority
groups, notably African-American and Latino children. Relations between the mostly white
teacher population and minority group children overall are less positive than are teachers’
relations with Caucasian and Asian American students. The same is true for their
expectancies (concerning both their academic achievement and in-school behavior) for poor
children and African-American children’s school performance. Indeed, children (especially
boys) from these groups often receive much harsher discipline practices than do children
from other groups and are far more likely to be suspended from school (Skiba & Knesting,
2001).
Moreover, research has shown that African-American and poor children are more likely
to perceive that they face educational barriers, and this becomes even truer as children go
through school. For instance, Taylor and Graham (2007) studied how African-American and
Latino children’s perceptions that they did not have good teachers and faced other
educational barriers impacted the value they attached to school (measured as which kinds of
other children they admired, including high or low achievers). They found that children’s
perceptions of both educational and occupational barriers to their success increased across
age, were higher for boys than for girls, and (for African-American children) perceptions of
these barriers related to their devaluing of achievement.
The research demonstrating that many ethnic minority children and children from low-
SES backgrounds are less likely to have positive relationships with their teachers is
discouraging in many ways with respect to whether teachers can help buffer the negative

effects of uncertainty and change on these students. On a more positive note, research has
shown that having one or two teachers with whom these students believe they have positive
relationships, and feeling supported by these teachers both academically and socially can
make a huge difference in their academic lives, and more general psychological adjustment
(e.g., Furrer & Skinner, 2003; Wentzel, 2016).
There also are other ways in which teachers can help buffer the negative effects of change
and uncertainty for these and other children. For example, teachers can design instruction to
be relevant and interesting for these students. Research has demonstrated that when students
perceive their schoolwork to be meaningful and interesting they have an increase in
motivation to learn (Albrecht & Karabenick, 2018; Roeser, Eccles, & Sameroff, 2000). We
will next discuss interventions that have been used in the classroom to enhance children’s
expectancies and values, and by extension, help them to deal with change and uncertainty in
their academic lives.
INTERVENTIONS TO ENHANCE CHILDREN’S
EXPECTANCIES AND VALUES
Over the last 15 years, intervention work designed to enhance the students’ motivation has
flourished; much of this work is theoretically grounded in EVT and also in Bandura’s (1997)
social cognitive theory, with its construct of self-efficacy that is similar in many respects to
the expectancy for success/ability beliefs constructs in EVT. Schunk and Ertmer (2000)
concluded from their review of the research on self-efficacy interventions that they have
promoted both students’ self-efficacy and performance on different academic tasks and
subject areas. Researchers basing their work in EVT have done a variety of intervention
studies designed to enhance students’ achievement values in different academic subjects (see
Harackiewicz & Priniski, 2016, for review). Many of these studies have been conducted in
the tradition of the “brief” social psychological interventions designed to enhance students’
motivation (Yeager & Walton, 2011). Finally, Albrecht and Karabenick’s (2018) special issue
of the Journal of Experimental Education reviews of intervention studies on enhancing
students’ sense of the relevance of what they are learning; relevance, of course, relates to
students’ task values.
Researchers implementing EVT-based brief interventions primarily have focused on
enhancing adolescents’ UV for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
courses in STEM fields (see Harackiewicz & Priniski, 2016; Lazowski & Hulleman, 2016;
Rosenzweig & Wigfield, 2016; for more complete reviews). Due to space limitations, we
provide just a few examples of this work here. Hulleman and Harackiewicz (2009) and
Hulleman, Godes, Hendricks, and Harackiewicz (2010) did intervention studies in which
they had one group of high school or college students write a brief essay, either once in the

lab or in class every three or four weeks, about the relevance of what they were learning to
their lives. Results showed that (relative to a control group) the intervention boosted students’
UV and interest in the topics they were learning, as well as their achievement; there were also
stronger effects for students who started with low expectations for their performance.
Gaspard et al. (2015) designed an intervention program to enhance ninth-grade German
students’ math achievement values. It consisted of students either writing a brief essay
connecting math to their lives or reading and responding to quotations from fellow students
about the relevance of math. Compared to a control condition, students in both intervention
conditions reported higher UV for math, but the effects were stronger in the quotation
condition than in the essay condition.
In a study quite important to the themes of this chapter, Harackiewicz, Canning, Tibbetts,
Priniski, and Hyde (2016) gave a UV intervention and a values affirming (VA) intervention
(i.e., an intervention asking students what values were most important to them) to college
students in an introductory biology class. The sample included majority and minority
students whose families had attended college, first-generation majority and minority college
students, and first-generation, underrepresented minority students. The UV intervention
focused on enhancing students’ sense of the relevance of the subject matter by having them
write about the course’s relevance to their goals. The value affirmation intervention had no
effects on students’ performance in the course. The UV intervention was effective for all the
students in the study. More importantly, the combined first-generation, underrepresented
group’s performance increased the most, meaning that the achievement gap between the
other students in the class and this group was reduced the most. This finding is particularly
important because this group had the lowest prior college GPA. Harackiewicz et al. suggested
that the UV intervention worked because it helped connect students’ values and goals, such
as wanting to help others, to the course material. They concluded that brief UV interventions
may be effective ways to reduce the achievement gap in STEM courses. The results of this
study hold great promise for enhancing certain minority group’s students’ school
performance, as well as their beliefs that they can succeed in college, and that it is valuable
for them. In other words, these students’ uncertainties about whether they can succeed in
college would be reduced following the intervention.
CONCLUSION
We hope we have convinced the readers of this volume that positive expectancies and values
for different achievement activities can buffer the effects of change and uncertainty; that is,
when children have positive expectancies and values, they can cope better with change and
deal more effectively with uncertainties. The work showing that as children’s expectancies
and values become more stable (in the sense of correlating more strongly over time) bodes
well for those who have developed and maintained positive expectancies and values for

activities they deem important, and whose values are in synchrony with the values held in the
larger society in which they live. Unfortunately, this same stability is not good news for
adolescents whose expectancies and values for school achievement and other activities are
low; one implication of the greater stability in children and adolescents’ expectancies and
values is that it will take more work to change them to be more positive.
Fortunately, the research we reviewed here on parents and teachers’ influences on
children’s developing expectancies and values shows that both of these key socializers can
foster positive growth in children’s motivation. Similarly, the success of brief motivation
interventions in enhancing students’ motivation and achievement is encouraging with respect
to helping more children stay positively motivated in school. However, we still have much to
learn about the processes by which these interventions positively affect students’ outcomes.
As is the case in many areas of research in psychology, we still know less about how
parents and teachers impact some ethnic minority students and immigrant students’
expectancies and values than we do about these socializers’ influences on majority group
children. Similarly, with the notable exception of the Harackiewicz et al. (2016) study, most
of the motivation intervention studies to date have not focused on either ethnic minority
students or (especially) immigrant children.
Further, as we discussed previously, first-generation immigrants tend to have more
positive motivational beliefs and values than second-generation immigrants or children who
have lived in the country for most of their lives. Future work is needed to better understand
this “immigrant paradox”; specifically how parents and teachers of first-generation
immigrant children help them to develop and maintain these motivational beliefs and values
over time, and why these potential buffering effects do not hold for second-generation
immigrant children. We believe research on these topics is another very important priority for
the next decade of research based on EVT.
NOTES
1. The literature on parents’ influences on children’s motivation is voluminous and so can’t
be covered here; see Grolnick, Friendly, and Bellas (2009) and Pomerantz and Thompson
(2008) for reviews.
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RELEVANT EDUCATION IN A CHANGING
WORLD: EXPANDING VALUE FOR THE
MOTIVATION SCIENCES
Jeffrey R. Albrecht and Stuart A. Karabenick
ABSTRACT
The idea that education should be made relevant to students is long-standing and
pervasive in American society. Recently, motivation scientists have clarified
important characteristics of students’ relevance beliefs, ways to intervene, and
individual characteristics moderating intervention effects. Yet, there has been little
consideration of the role of situational constraints and sociocultural influences on
students’ relevance appraisal processes. We describe how societal changes and
broader educational purposes affect the issues that students consider to be relevant to
their educational experiences and the values they subsequently attribute to their
studies. After differentiating components of relevance and highlighting ways in which
particular components may be influenced by changing sociocultural milieus, we
consider the implications of these processes for the development of subjective task
value beliefs. Specifically, we show how the proposed model of relevance helps to
parse out aspects of relevance appraisals that can be used to differentiate between
components of subjective task value and argue that there is need to expand current
models proposed in expectancy-value theory (EVT). Finally, we explore how recent
global events may impact the social construction of educational relevance and
constrain students’ developing beliefs about the value of their educational
opportunities and implications for future research and educators.
Keywords Motivation; intervention; expectancy-value theory; relevance; educational
theory; history of education
Contributors to a recent symposium offered models from a variety of psychological
perspectives (e.g., cognitive, social, developmental) focused on the role of students’
relevance beliefs in their academic motivation (Albrecht & Karabenick, 2016). A subsequent
special journal issue further examined the meaning of relevance in education research, with
authors linking it to prominent motivational theories and constructs, such as subjective task
value, situational interest, and self-regulatory styles (Albrecht & Karabenick, 2018). These

and other efforts have clarified important characteristics of students’ relevance beliefs, ways
to intervene, and individual characteristics moderating intervention effects. Yet, as noted by
Alexander (2018), there has been little consideration of the role of situational constraints and
sociocultural influences on students’ relevance appraisal processes (c.f., Harackiewicz,
Rozek, Hulleman, & Hyde, 2012). The present chapter in the Advances in Motivation and
Achievement series addresses Alexander’s concerns by exploring the changing sociocultural
contexts within which relevance beliefs are framed.
Specifically, we focus on debates about the purposes of education that are long-standing,
pervasive, and shaped by the changing needs of diverse societies. We propose that these
societal changes and broader educational purposes affect the issues that students consider to
be relevant to their educational experiences and the values they attribute to their studies. We
begin by differentiating components of relevance and highlighting ways in which particular
components may be influenced by changing sociocultural milieus. We then consider the
implications of these processes for the development of subjective task value beliefs. After
clarifying the meaning of relevance and its relation to task value, we explore how recent
global events may impact the social construction of educational relevance and constrain
students’ developing beliefs about the value of their educational opportunities.
THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF EDUCATIONAL
RELEVANCE
A Social-cognitive Conceptualization of Relevance
According to a constructionist perspective, relevance is not an objective property that exists
in the world, but rather a socially constructed, cognitive representation of relationships that
convey meaning (Dewey, 1910, 1938). Individuals appraise or seek to understand the
relevance of topics, issues, and concepts they encounter in myriad situations, including
educational contexts. Relevance is defined here as an appraised conceptual connection in
which an object of inquiry is perceived as having significant bearing upon one or more focal
issues. Objects of inquiry are task-specific characteristics that are appraised for their
relevance to the particular focal issues, aims, or broader topics under consideration that frame
or direct inquiry. Through this relevance appraisal process, individuals elaborate conceptual
connections representing how those objects of inquiry bear upon or have significance for the
targeted focal issues. Students will elaborate such connections for a variety of reasons, for
example, to seek basic understanding, develop expertise, and identify useful information
(such as, for performing on an exam). For this reason, relevance will mean different things
based on the priorities of individuals, but the basic common thread is that the search for
relevance is initiated by the belief that it will reap value. Critically, we contend that a basic

type of value implied by relevance (i.e., expanding one’s understanding of particular focal
issues) is not adequately captured in current models of subjective task value, which suggests
the need to expand such models to accommodate the construct and its implications.
Relevance involves both cognition and motivation. From a cognitive perspective,
students appraise relevance to elaborate upon information being learned by relating it to their
existing knowledge schemas (Ausubel, 2000). From a motivational perspective, students’
relevance appraisals initiate and direct emotional experiences (Scherer, 2013) that contribute
to the evaluation of whether a learning activity is worthwhile for engaging in goal-directed
behavior (Eccles et al., 1983) or satisfying basic needs (Ryan & Deci, 2017). Students may
consider both motivation and cognitive characteristics when appraising relevance that
involves education-related objects of inquiry (e.g., curricular content and activities; Hartwell
& Kaplan, 2018). The following example serves to ground these abstract concepts in ways
we trust are familiar to most readers of this chapter.
Differentiating between objects of inquiry and focal issues helps to understand the
situational factors contributing to students’ learning and motivation. For instance, the focal
issue of this Advances in Motivation and Advancement volume is motivational research and
theory in a changing world. Authors were asked to make contributions (objects of inquiry)
relevant to that focal issue. Readers of the chapter are encouraged to consider what they
already know about the focal issue and its relation to the chapter – the object of inquiry. The
reader’s existing knowledge of the contents of both the object of inquiry (the chapter) and the
focal issue is important in that judgment and thus its relevance. Since some of that
knowledge may be stored with affective memories, it may elicit emotions that prompt
motivated reactions to the new content contained in the chapter. For this reason, it is
important to consider the personal significance of particular focal issues when attempting to
understand the relevance of such objects of inquiry as students’ learning tasks.
A Sociocultural Perspective on Educational Relevance Appraisal
Within any given culture, a variety of stakeholders seek to define and understand the
meaning or purpose of educational experiences by identifying relationships between those
experiences and key focal issues. These purposes can vary considerably according to the
goals of particular societies, communities, competing interest groups, schools, and students
and are informed by the needs and interests of stakeholders, typically those in positions of
power. In most societies, politicians, parents, school boards, administrators, teachers,
students, and other stakeholders define and seek to understand the relevance of education
(object of inquiry) toward mutable personal and collective goals (focal issues) that they
adopt. For example, according to one perspective, at the most universal level, schools serve
five functions deriving from the focal issues of preserving and improving society: (1)
socialization, (2) transmission of culture, (3) social control and personal development, (4)

selecting, training, and placing of individuals in society, and (5) change and innovation
(Ballantine, 2001).
Educational reforms are often built on the recognition that schooling can be relevant to a
wider array of focal issues than previously acknowledged or acted upon. Such recognition is
likely to arise in response to societies’ changing needs. For instance, Dewey, (1900) observed
that growing industrialization was shifting the educational mission of schools in the US at the
turn of the twentieth century toward the production of trained workers in specialized fields.
This led to the increased segmentation of academic subjects, which Dewey noted contrasted
sharply with the way students learn in life outside of educational contexts. He argued that the
inability to identify connections between disparate academic subjects and life outside of
school undermined students’ motivation to learn. A more recent example of societal changes
defining the purpose of education is the rising science, technology, engineering, and math
(STEM) education imperative in the US and elsewhere. For instance, after the Soviet Union
launched the Sputnik satellite in 1957, the US dramatically reformed its science education
efforts to produce more scientists for the invention of competitive weaponry (Dean, 2007).
Today, initiatives to promote involvement in STEM education are pervasive, with
stakeholders from national organizations to students arguing that STEM studies are the ticket
to jobs and national security;
1
yet, many students tend not to view STEM studies as relevant
to their interests and values (Albrecht & Karabenick, 2015).
Despite the differences, most stakeholders, in the US at least, agree on certain purposes
that education should serve. For instance, career preparation is one of the most widely
acknowledged roles of education, for example, driving federal efforts to fully merge the US
Department of Education with the Labor Department (Lombardo & Arnold, 2018). However,
many stakeholders recognize dynamic and unpredictable shifts in the job market, leading
social commentators to argue that “it’s incumbent that we prepare young people for a world
of constant uncertainty” and that “It doesn’t have to be a job […] But each person needs the
skills to make some kind of contribution to a changing world with a lot of problems that need
solving” (as cited in Herold, 2017). Such views are often mirrored in students’ beliefs about
the relevance of their courses in high school and college. In one study, a large sample of
university students appraised their courses as primarily relevant to such focal issues as
addressing societal needs and pursuing career goals, but less so to personal interests or life
values (Albrecht & Karabenick, 2015).
Yet, there is less agreement about making education relevant to other focal issues. For
instance, fostering personal development, seeking understanding of the world, and promoting
humanitarian aspirations have become partisan missions in education. According to findings
from recent Pew Research Center polls in the US, Republicans mostly believe that colleges
should focus on skills training, whereas Democrats are more likely to view personal
development as an equally critical role of higher education (Fingerhut, 2017). Of course,
skills training and personal development are not mutually exclusive. As part of a shifting
economic landscape, “soft skills” (e.g., strategic thinking, listening, and feedback; Leighton,
2018) are becoming increasingly important for jobs. Many Americans recognize that fact, but

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But it was soon afterwards determined by the astronomers of France,
to ascertain the figure of the earth by actual measurements, specially
instituted for that purpose. Let us see how this could be effected. If we
set out at the equator and travel towards the pole, it is easy to see
when we have advanced one degree of latitude, for this will be
indicated by the rising of the north star, which appears in the horizon
when the spectator stands on the equator, but rises in the same
proportion as he recedes from the equator, until, on reaching the pole,
the north star would be seen directly over head. Now, were the earth a
perfect sphere, the meridian of the earth would be a perfect circle, and
the distance between any two places, differing one degree in latitude,
would be exactly equal to the distance between any other two places,
differing in latitude to the same amount. But if the earth be a spheroid,
flattened at the poles, then a line encompassing the earth from north
to south, constituting the terrestrial meridian, would not be a perfect
circle, but an ellipse or oval, having its longer diameter through the
equator, and its shorter through the poles. The part of this curve
included between two radii, drawn from the centre of the earth to the
celestial meridian, at angles one degree asunder, would be greater in
the polar than in the equatorial region; that is, the degrees of the
meridian would lengthen towards the poles.
The French astronomers, therefore, undertook to ascertain by actual
measurements of arcs of the meridian, in different latitudes, whether
the degrees of the meridian are of uniform length, or, if not, in what
manner they differ from each other. After several indecisive
measurements of an arc of the meridian in France, it was determined
to effect simultaneous measurements of arcs of the meridian near the
equator, and as near as possible to the north pole, presuming that if
degrees of the meridian, in different latitudes, are really of different

lengths, they will differ most in points most distant from each other.
Accordingly, in 1735, the French Academy, aided by the government,
sent out two expeditions, one to Peru and the other to Lapland. Three
distinguished mathematicians, Bouguer, La Condamine, and Godin,
were despatched to the former place, and four others, Maupertius,
Camus, Clairault, and Lemonier, were sent to the part of Swedish
Lapland which lies at the head of the Gulf of Tornea, the northern arm
of the Baltic. This commission completed its operations several years
sooner than the other, which met with greater difficulties in the way of
their enterprise. Still, the northern detachment had great obstacles to
contend with, arising particularly from the extreme length and severity
of their Winters. The measurements, however, were conducted with
care and skill, and the result, when compared with that obtained for
the length of a degree in France, plainly indicated, by its greater
amount, a compression of the earth towards the poles.
Mean-while, Bouguer and his party were prosecuting a similar work
in Peru, under extraordinary difficulties. These were caused, partly by
the localities, and partly by the ill-will and indolence of the inhabitants.
The place selected for their operations was in an elevated valley
between two principal chains of the Andes. The lowest point of their
arc was at an elevation of a mile and a half above the level of the sea;
and, in some instances, the heights of two neighboring signals differed
more than a mile. Encamped upon lofty mountains, they had to
struggle against storms, cold, and privations of every description, while
the invincible indifference of the Indians, they were forced to employ,
was not to be shaken by the fear of punishment or the hope of reward.
Yet, by patience and ingenuity, they overcame all obstacles, and
executed with great accuracy one of the most important operations, of
this nature, ever undertaken. To accomplish this, however, took them

nine years; of which, three were occupied in determining the latitudes
alone.
[5]
I have recited the foregoing facts, in order to give you some idea of
the unwearied pains which astronomers have taken to ascertain the
exact figure of the earth. You will find, indeed, that all their labors are
characterized by the same love of accuracy. Years of toilsome
watchings, and incredible labor of computation, have been undergone,
for the sake of arriving only a few seconds nearer to the truth.
The length of a degree of the meridian, as measured in Peru, was
less than that before determined in France, and of course less than that
of Lapland; so that the spheroidal figure of the earth appeared now to
be ascertained by actual measurement. Still, these measures were too
few in number, and covered too small a portion of the whole quadrant
from the equator to the pole, to enable astronomers to ascertain the
exact law of curvature of the meridian, and therefore similar
measurements have since been prosecuted with great zeal by different
nations, particularly by the French and English. In 1764, two English
mathematicians of great eminence, Mason and Dixon, undertook the
measurement of an arc in Pennsylvania, extending more than one
hundred miles.

Fig. 12.
These operations are carried on by what is
called a system of triangulation. Without some
knowledge of trigonometry, you will not be able
fully to understand this process; but, as it is in its
nature somewhat curious, and is applied to
various other geographical measurements, as
well as to the determination of arcs of the
meridian, I am desirous that you should
understand its general principles. Let us reflect,
then, that it must be a matter of the greatest
difficulty, to execute with exactness the measurement of a line of
any great length in one continued direction on the earth's surface.
Even if we select a level and open country, more or less inequalities
of surface will occur; rivers must be crossed, morasses must be
traversed, thickets must be penetrated, and innumerable other
obstacles must be surmounted; and finally, every time we apply an
artificial measure, as a rod, for example, we obtain a result not
absolutely perfect. Each error may indeed be very small, but small
errors, often repeated, may produce a formidable aggregate. Now,
one unacquainted with trigonometry can easily understand the fact,
that, when we know certain parts of a triangle, we can find the other
parts by calculation; as, in the rule of three in arithmetic, we can
obtain the fourth term of a proportion, from having the first three
terms given. Thus, in the triangle A B C, Fig. 12, if we know the side
A B, and the angles at A and B, we can find by computation, the
other sides, A C and B C, and the remaining angle at C. Suppose,
then, that in measuring an arc of the meridian through any country,
the line were to pass directly through A B, but the ground was so

obstructed between A and B, that we could not possibly carry our
measurement through it. We might then measure another line, as A
C, which was accessible, and with a compass take the bearing of B
from the points A and C, by which means we should learn the value
of the angles at A and C. From these data we might calculate, by the
rules of trigonometry, the exact length of the line A B. Perhaps the
ground might be so situated, that we could not reach the point B, by
any route; still, if it could be seen from A and C, it would be all we
should want. Thus, in conducting a trigonometrical survey of any
country, conspicuous signals are placed on elevated points, and the
bearings of these are taken from the extremities of a known line,
called the base, and thus the relative situation of various places is
accurately determined. Were we to undertake to run an exact north
and south line through any country, as New England, we should
select, near one extremity, a spot of ground favorable for actual
measurement, as a level, unobstructed plain; we should provide a
measure whose length in feet and inches was determined with the
greatest possible precision, and should apply it with the utmost care.
We should thus obtain a base line. From the extremities of this line,
we should take (with some appropriate instrument) the bearing of
some signal at a greater or less distance, and thus we should obtain
one side and two angles of a triangle, from which we could find, by
the rules of trigonometry, either of the unknown sides. Taking this as
a new base, we might take the bearing of another signal, still further
on our way, and thus proceed to run the required north and south
line, without actually measuring any thing more than the first, or
base line.

Fig. 13.
Thus, in Fig. 13, we wish to measure the distance
between the two points A and O, which are both
on the same meridian, as is known by their
having the same longitude; but, on account of
various obstacles, it would be found very
inconvenient to measure this line directly, with a
rod or chain, and even if we could do it, we could
not by this method obtain nearly so accurate a
result, as we could by a series of triangles,
where, after the base line was measured, we
should have nothing else to measure except
angles, which can be determined, by observation,
to a greater degree of exactness, than lines. We
therefore, in the first place, measure the base line, A B, with the
utmost precision. Then, taking the bearing of some signal at C from
A and B, we obtain the means of calculating the side B C, as has
been already explained. Taking B C as a new base, we proceed, in
like manner, to determine successively the sides C D, D E, and E F,
and also A C, and C E. Although A C is not in the direction of the
meridian, but considerably to the east of it, yet it is easy to find the
corresponding distance on the meridian, A M; and in the same
manner we can find the portions of the meridian M N and N O,
corresponding respectively to C E and E F. Adding these several parts
of the meridian together, we obtain the length of the arc from A to
O, in miles; and by observations on the north star, at each extremity
of the arc, namely, at A and at O, we could determine the difference
of latitude between these two points. Suppose, for example, that the
distance between A and O is exactly five degrees, and that the

length of the intervening line is three hundred and forty-seven miles;
then, dividing the latter by the former number, we find the length of
a degree to be sixty-nine miles and four tenths. To take, however, a
few of the results actually obtained, they are as follows:
Places of
observation.
Latitude.
Length of a deg. in
miles.
Peru,
00° 00'
00"
68.732
Pennsylvania,39 12 0068.896
France, 46 12 0069.054
England,
51 29
54½
69.146
Sweden, 66 20 1069.292
This comparison shows, that the length of a degree gradually
increases, as we proceed from the equator towards the pole.
Combining the results of various estimates, the dimensions of the
terrestrial spheroid are found to be as follows:
Equatorial diameter, 7925.648 miles.
Polar diameter, 7899.170 "
Average diameter, 7912.409 "
The difference between the greatest and the least is about
twenty-six and one half miles, which is about one two hundred and
ninety-ninth part of the greatest. This fraction is denominated the
ellipticity of the earth,—being the excess of the equatorial over the
polar diameter.

The operations, undertaken for the purpose of determining the
figure of the earth, have been conducted with the most refined
exactness. At any stage of the process, the length of the last side, as
obtained by calculation, may be actually measured in the same
manner as the base from which the series of triangles commenced.
When thus measured, it is called the base of verification. In some
surveys, the base of verification, when taken at a distance of four
hundred miles from the starting point, has not differed more than
one foot from the same line, as determined by calculation.
Another method of arriving at the exact figure of the earth is, by
observations with the pendulum. If a pendulum, like that of a clock,
be suspended, and the number of its vibrations per hour be counted,
they will be found to be different in different latitudes. A pendulum
that vibrates thirty-six hundred times per hour, at the equator, will
vibrate thirty-six hundred and five and two thirds times, at London,
and a still greater number of times nearer the north pole. Now, the
vibrations of the pendulum are produced by the force of gravity.
Hence their comparative number at different places is a measure of
the relative forces of gravity at those places. But when we know the
relative forces of gravity at different places, we know their relative
distances from the centre of the earth; because the nearer a place is
to the centre of the earth, the greater is the force of gravity.
Suppose, for example, we should count the number of vibrations of
a pendulum at the equator, and then carry it to the north pole, and
count the number of vibrations made there in the same time,—we
should be able, from these two observations, to estimate the relative
forces of gravity at these two points; and, having the relative forces
of gravity, we can thence deduce their relative distances from the

centre of the earth, and thus obtain the polar and equatorial
diameters. Observations of this kind have been taken with the
greatest accuracy, in many places on the surface of the earth, at
various distances from each other, and they lead to the same
conclusions respecting the figure of the earth, as those derived from
measuring arcs of the meridian. It is pleasing thus to see a great
truth, and one apparently beyond the pale of human investigation,
reached by two routes entirely independent of each other. Nor,
indeed, are these the only proofs which have been discovered of the
spheroidal figure of the earth. In consequence of the accumulation
of matter above the equatorial regions of the earth, a body weighs
less there than towards the poles, being further removed from the
centre of the earth. The same accumulation of matter, by the force
of attraction which it exerts, causes slight inequalities in the motions
of the moon; and since the amount of these becomes a measure of
the force which produces them, astronomers are able, from these
inequalities, to calculate the exact quantity of the matter thus
accumulated, and hence to determine the figure of the earth. The
result is not essentially different from that obtained by the other
methods. Finally, the shape of the earth's shadow is altered, by its
spheroidal figure,—a circumstance which affects the time and
duration of a lunar eclipse. All these different and independent
phenomena afford a pleasing example of the harmony of truth. The
known effects of the centrifugal force upon a body revolving on its
axis, like the earth, lead us to infer that the earth is of a spheroidal
figure; but if this be the fact, the pendulum ought to vibrate faster
near the pole than at the equator, because it would there be nearer
the centre of the earth. On trial, such is found to be the case. If,

again, there be such an accumulation of matter about the equatorial
regions, its effects ought to be visible in the motions of the moon,
which it would influence by its gravity; and there, also, its effects are
traced. At length, we apply our measures to the surface of the earth
itself, and find the same fact, which had thus been searched out
among the hidden things of Nature, here palpably exhibited before
our eyes. Finally, on estimating from these different sources, what
the exact amount of the compression at the poles must be, all bring
out nearly one and the same result. This truth, so harmonious in
itself, takes along with it, and establishes, a thousand other truths
on which it rests.

LETTER VIII.
DIURNAL REVOLUTIONS.
"To some she taught the fabric of
the sphere,
The changeful moon, the circuit
of the stars,
The golden zones of heaven."—
Akenside.
With the elementary knowledge already acquired, you will now be
able to enter with pleasure and profit on the various interesting
phenomena dependent on the revolution of the earth on its axis and
around the sun. The apparent diurnal revolution of the heavenly
bodies, from east to west, is owing to the actual revolution of the
earth on its own axis, from west to east. If we conceive of a radius
of the earth's equator extended until it meets the concave sphere of
the heavens, then, as the earth revolves, the extremity of this line
would trace out a curve on the face of the sky; namely, the celestial
equator. In curves parallel to this, called the circles of diurnal
revolution, the heavenly bodies actually appear to move, every star
having its own peculiar circle. After you have first rendered familiar
the real motion of the earth from west to east, you may then,
without danger of misapprehension, adopt the common language,
that all the heavenly bodies revolve around the earth once a day,
from east to west, in circles parallel to the equator and to each
other.

I must remind you, that the time occupied by a star, in passing
from any point in the meridian until it comes round to the same
point again, is called a sidereal day, and measures the period of the
earth's revolution on its axis. If we watch the returns of the same
star from day to day, we shall find the intervals exactly equal to each
other; that is, the sidereal days are all equal. Whatever star we
select for the observation, the same result will be obtained. The
stars, therefore, always keep the same relative position, and have a
common movement round the earth,—a consequence that naturally
flows from the hypothesis that their apparent motion is all produced
by a single real motion; namely, that of the earth. The sun, moon,
and planets, as well as the fixed stars, revolve in like manner; but
their returns to the meridian are not, like those of the fixed stars, at
exactly equal intervals.
The appearances of the diurnal motions of the heavenly bodies
are different in different parts of the earth,—since every place has its
own horizon, and different horizons are variously inclined to each
other. Nothing in astronomy is more apt to mislead us, than the
obstinate habit of considering the horizon as a fixed and immutable
plane, and of referring every thing to it. We should contemplate the
earth as a huge globe, occupying a small portion of space, and
encircled on all sides, at an immense distance, by the starry sphere.
We should free our minds from their habitual proneness to consider
one part of space as naturally up and another down, and view
ourselves as subject to a force (gravity) which binds us to the earth
as truly as though we were fastened to it by some invisible cords or
wires, as the needle attaches itself to all sides of a spherical
loadstone. We should dwell on this point, until it appears to us as

truly up, in the direction B B, C C, D D, when one is at B, C, D,
respectively, as in the direction A A, when he is at A, Fig. 14.
Let us now suppose the spectator viewing the diurnal revolutions
from several different positions on the earth. On the equator, his
horizon would pass through both poles; for the horizon cuts the
celestial vault at ninety degrees in every direction from the zenith of
the spectator; but the pole is likewise ninety degrees from his zenith,
when he stands on the equator; and consequently, the pole must be
in the horizon. Here, also, the celestial equator would coincide with
the prime vertical, being a great circle passing through the east and
west points. Since all the diurnal circles are parallel to the equator,
consequently, they would all, like the equator be perpendicular to
the horizon. Such a view of the heavenly bodies is called a right
sphere, which may be thus defined: a right sphere is one in which all
the daily revolutions of the stars are in circles perpendicular to the
horizon.
Fig. 14.

A right sphere is seen only at the equator. Any star situated in the
celestial equator would appear to rise directly in the east, at
midnight to be in the zenith of the spectator, and to set directly in
the west. In proportion as stars are at a greater distance from the
equator towards the pole, they describe smaller and smaller circles,
until, near the pole, their motion is hardly perceptible.
If the spectator advances one degree from the equator towards
the north pole, his horizon reaches one degree beyond the pole of
the earth, and cuts the starry sphere one degree below the pole of
the heavens, or below the north star, if that be taken as the place of
the pole. As he moves onward towards the pole, his horizon
continually reaches further and further beyond it, until, when he
comes to the pole of the earth, and under the pole of the heavens,
his horizon reaches on all sides to the equator, and coincides with it.
Moreover, since all the circles of daily motion are parallel to the
equator, they become, to the spectator at the pole, parallel to the
horizon. Or, a parallel sphere is that in which all the circles of daily
motion are parallel to the horizon.
To render this view of the heavens familiar, I would advise you to
follow round in mind a number of separate stars, in their diurnal
revolution, one near the horizon, one a few degrees above it, and a
third near the zenith. To one who stood upon the north pole, the
stars of the northern hemisphere would all be perpetually in view
when not obscured by clouds, or lost in the sun's light, and none of
those of the southern hemisphere would ever be seen. The sun
would be constantly above the horizon for six months in the year,
and the remaining six continually out of sight. That is, at the pole,

the days and nights are each six months long. The appearances at
the south pole are similar to those at the north.
A perfect parallel sphere can never be seen, except at one of the
poles,—a point which has never been actually reached by man; yet
the British discovery ships penetrated within a few degrees of the
north pole, and of course enjoyed the view of a sphere nearly
parallel.
As the circles of daily motion are parallel to the horizon of the
pole, and perpendicular to that of the equator, so at all places
between the two, the diurnal motions are oblique to the horizon.
This aspect of the heavens constitutes an oblique sphere, which is
thus defined: an oblique sphere is that in which the circles of daily
motion are oblique to the horizon.
Suppose, for example, that the spectator is at the latitude of fifty
degrees. His horizon reaches fifty degrees beyond the pole of the
earth, and gives the same apparent elevation to the pole of the
heavens. It cuts the equator and all the circles of daily motion, at an
angle of forty degrees,—being always equal to what the altitude of
the pole lacks of ninety degrees: that is, it is always equal to the co-
altitude of the pole. Thus, let H O, Fig. 15, represent the horizon, E
Q the equator, and P P the axis of the earth. Also, l l, m m, n n,
parallels of latitude. Then the horizon of a spectator at Z, in latitude
fifty degrees, reaches to fifty degrees beyond the pole; and the
angle E C H, which the equator makes with the horizon, is forty
degrees,—the complement of the latitude. As we advance still
further north, the elevation of the diurnal circle above the horizon
grows less and less, and consequently, the motions of the heavenly

Fig. 15.
bodies more and more oblique to the horizon, until finally, at the
pole, where the latitude is ninety degrees, the angle of elevation of
the equator vanishes, and the horizon and the equator coincide with
each other, as before stated.
The circle of perpetual apparition is the
boundary of that space around the elevated pole,
where the stars never set. Its distance from the
pole is equal to the latitude of the place. For,
since the altitude of the pole is equal to the
latitude, a star, whose polar distance is just equal
to the latitude, will, when at its lowest point, only
just reach the horizon; and all the stars nearer
the pole than this will evidently not descend so far as the horizon.
Thus m m, Fig. 15, is the circle of perpetual apparition, between
which and the north pole, the stars never set, and its distance from
the pole, O P, is evidently equal to the elevation of the pole, and of
course to the latitude.
In the opposite hemisphere, a similar part of the sphere adjacent
to the depressed pole never rises. Hence, the circle of perpetual
occultation is the boundary of that space around the depressed pole,
within which the stars never rise.
Thus m´ m´, Fig. 15, is the circle of perpetual occultation,
between which and the south pole, the stars never rise.
In an oblique sphere, the horizon cuts the circles of daily motion
unequally. Towards the elevated pole, more than half the circle is
above the horizon, and a greater and greater portion, as the

distance from the equator is increased, until finally, within the circle
of perpetual apparition, the whole circle is above the horizon. Just
the opposite takes place in the hemisphere next the depressed pole.
Accordingly, when the sun is in the equator, as the equator and
horizon, like all other great circles of the sphere, bisect each other,
the days and nights are equal all over the globe. But when the sun is
north of the equator, the days become longer than the nights, but
shorter, when the sun is south of the equator. Moreover, the higher
the latitude, the greater is the inequality in the lengths of the days
and nights. By examining Fig. 15, you will easily see how each of
these cases must hold good.
Most of the appearances of the diurnal revolution can be
explained, either on the supposition that the celestial sphere actually
turns around the earth once in twenty-four hours, or that this motion
of the heavens is merely apparent, arising from the revolution of the
earth on its axis, in the opposite direction,—a motion of which we
are insensible, as we sometimes lose the consciousness of our own
motion in a ship or steam-boat, and observe all external objects to
be receding from us, with a common motion. Proofs, entirely
conclusive and satisfactory, establish the fact, that it is the earth,
and not the celestial sphere, that turns; but these proofs are drawn
from various sources, and one is not prepared to appreciate their
value, or even to understand some of them, until he has made
considerable proficiency in the study of astronomy, and become
familiar with a great variety of astronomical phenomena. To such a
period we will therefore postpone the discussion of the earth's
rotation on its axis.

While we retain the same place on the earth, the diurnal
revolution occasions no change in our horizon, but our horizon goes
round, as well as ourselves. Let us first take our station on the
equator, at sunrise; our horizon now passes through both the poles
and through the sun, which we are to conceive of as at a great
distance from the earth, and therefore as cut, not by the terrestrial,
but by the celestial, horizon. As the earth turns, the horizon dips
more and more below the sun, at the rate of fifteen degrees for
every hour; and, as in the case of the polar star, the sun appears to
rise at the same rate. In six hours, therefore, it is depressed ninety
degrees below the sun, bringing us directly under the sun, which, for
our present purpose, we may consider as having all the while
maintained the same fixed position in space. The earth continues to
turn, and in six hours more, it completely reverses the position of
our horizon, so that the western part of the horizon, which at sunrise
was diametrically opposite to the sun, now cuts the sun, and soon
afterwards it rises above the level of the sun, and the sun sets.
During the next twelve hours, the sun continues on the invisible side
of the sphere, until the horizon returns to the position from which it
set out, and a new day begins.
Let us next contemplate the similar phenomena at the poles. Here
the horizon, coinciding, as it does, with the equator, would cut the
sun through its centre and the sun would appear to revolve along
the surface of the sea, one half above and the other half below the
horizon. This supposes the sun in its annual revolution to be at one
of the equinoxes. When the sun is north of the equator, it revolves
continually round in a circle, which, during a single revolution,
appears parallel to the equator, and it is constantly day; and when

the sun is south of the equator, it is, for the same reason, continual
night.
When we have gained a clear idea of the appearances of the
diurnal revolutions, as exhibited to a spectator at the equator and at
the pole, that is, in a right and in a parallel sphere, there will be little
difficulty in imagining how they must be in the intermediate
latitudes, which have an oblique sphere.
The appearances of the sun and stars, presented to the
inhabitants of different countries, are such as correspond to the
sphere in which they live. Thus, in the fervid climates of India,
Africa, and South America, the sun mounts up to the highest regions
of the heavens, and descends directly downwards, suddenly
plunging beneath the horizon. His rays, darting almost vertically
upon the heads of the inhabitants, strike with a force unknown to
the people of the colder climates; while in places remote from the
equator, as in the north of Europe, the sun, in Summer, rises very far
in the north, takes a long circuit towards the south, and sets as far
northward in the west as the point where it rose on the other side of
the meridian. As we go still further north, to the northern parts of
Norway and Sweden, for example, to the confines of the frigid zone,
the Summer's sun just grazes the northern horizon, and at noon
appears only twenty-three and one half degrees above the southern.
On the other hand, in mid-winter, in the north of Europe, as at St.
Petersburgh, the day dwindles almost to nothing,—lasting only while
the sun describes a very short arc in the extreme south. In some
parts of Siberia and Iceland, the only day consists of a little

glimmering of the sun on the verge of the southern horizon, at
noon.

LETTER IX.
PARALLAX AND REFRACTION.
"Go, wondrous creature! mount
where science guides,
Go measure earth, weigh air, and
state the tides;
Instruct the planets in what orbs
to run,
Correct old Time, and regulate
the sun."—Pope.
I think you must have felt some astonishment, that astronomers
are able to calculate the exact distances and magnitudes of the sun,
moon, and planets. We should, at the first thought, imagine that
such knowledge as this must be beyond the reach of the human
faculties, and we might be inclined to suspect that astronomers
practise some deception in this matter, for the purpose of exciting
the admiration of the unlearned. I will therefore, in the present
Letter, endeavor to give you some clear and correct views respecting
the manner in which astronomers acquire this knowledge.
In our childhood, we all probably adopt the notion that the sky is
a real dome of definite surface, in which the heavenly bodies are
fixed. When any objects are beyond a certain distance from the eye,
we lose all power of distinguishing, by our sight alone, between
different distances, and cannot tell whether a given object is one
million or a thousand millions of miles off. Although the bodies seen

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Advances In Motivation And Achievementtheory Research And Implications For Practice Eleftheria N Gonida Marina S Lemos

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