“You know what, I can do this”: Heterogeneous joint trajectories of expectancy for success and attainment value in chemistry

•Four groups of students showed different trajectories of motivation in chemistry.•Attainment value and expectancy showed stable and increasing trajectories.•Perceived instructor connections to real life and enthusiasm predicted trajectories.•Students’ open-ended reports revealed how motivation supports can work together. Using a situated expectancy-value theory perspective, we examined trajectories of expectancy for success and attainment value in introductory chemistry courses. Growth mixture modeling yielded four trajectory groups (classes) with unique patterns of expectancy and value over time. Perceptions of instructors’ connections to real life and enthusiasm predicted trajectory class membership, and trajectory classes significantly differed on grade and major outcomes. Follow-up analyses of students’ open-ended responses uncovered further insights about how students experience motivational supports, including broad themes that aligned with motivational design principles along with more detailed explanations of how such supports functioned for students in this setting. Frequently reported motivational experiences indicated variety in “what works” for students, but identified themes were mentioned equally often across the two courses and the four trajectory classes, suggesting students with differing trajectories of motivation equally attend to or benefit from the most commonly used motivational teaching strategies. Students’ open-ended reports also indicated that multiple course features worked in tandem to support students via consistent, mutually supportive teacher messages. Results highlight the importance of student perceptions and the need to consider motivational supports as complex systems of mutually supportive practices.