ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1597898
The Limited Role of Expectancy-Value Beliefs, Self-Efficacy, and Perceived Attentional Control in Predicting Online Learning Outcomes in a General Education Course
Provisionally accepted
- The Graduate Center,The City University of New York, New York City, United States
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Researchers have expended enormous effort on understanding how college students' intrapersonal beliefs contribute to their academic success. This study used structural equation modeling to examine factors associated with course outcomes of students enrolled in an online general education course at a non-selective public college (16 sections, N = 940). Structural models linked students' expectancy-value beliefs with academic self-efficacy, which in turn correlated with reading comprehension and self-reported attentional control. Both reading comprehension and self-reported attentional control predicted course outcomes whereas students' expectancy-value beliefs and academic self-efficacy had no direct influence. Despite adequate model fit, students' intrapersonal beliefs and skills collectively accounted for only 6.6% of the variance in course outcomes. Individual-level variables may lack explanatory value in accounting for online learning outcomes, indicating the need to increase emphasis in educational psychology research on social and systemic factors affecting student success. Instructors should also recognize that factors besides intrapersonal beliefs and skills influence students' persistence in online coursework and the need to support students at risk of dropping out.
Keywords: academic motivation, self-efficacy, expectancy-value, higher education, introductory psychology, online courses
Received: 21 Mar 2025; Accepted: 17 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Roberts, Gravelle, Che, Zapparrata, Lodhi and Brooks. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Raoul A Roberts, The Graduate Center,The City University of New York, New York City, United States
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