College Students’ Perceptions of Relevance, Personal Interest, and Task Value

Abstract

This study aimed to explore undergraduates’ perceptions of relevance in conjunction with two associated constructs, personal interest, and task value. To unearth these perceptions, American (n = 104) and Dutch (n = 79) students completed the Conceptualization of Relevance Task (CoRT). This task required them to: (a) select a graphic that best represented their view of the interplay of relevance, personal interest, and task value; (b) justify their selection and exemplify it with a personal experience (c) define each of these terms. We scored the quality and consistency between students’ graphic selection and their justification and exemplification of that selection using a 0–2 rubric. The definitions students wrote for each term were subjected to content analysis. Among the major contributions of this study was its demonstration of the merit of examining laypersons’ views of relevance; the finding that students conceived of relevance as multidimensional and both externally and internally influenced; and the noting of parallels between the views of these non-experts and those of experts in the field of motivation regarding the nature of relevance. Implications for future research and practice are forwarded.

Keywords:

• Relevance
• personal interest
• task value
• motivation

Acknowledgment

For her encouragement and resolute confidence in the completion of this work, as well as indispensable help with coding students’ responses and proofing the manuscript in its many stages, my thanks go to Julianne E. van Meerten. I believe I could not have transformed my master’s thesis into a meaningful manuscript without her encouragement to see its relevance. Further, I thank my advisor, Patricia A. Alexander, for guiding my thoughts from the concept through the completion of this project.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that there are no financial or non-financial conflicts of interest in this work.