Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cauet, Eva, Kauertz, Alexander
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.00490
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866913714121211904
author Cauet, Eva
Kauertz, Alexander
author_facet Cauet, Eva
Kauertz, Alexander
contents This paper introduces a testable model for physics-specific student engagement at the onset of task processing in response to a task-specific motivational stimulus. Empirical research provides evidence that contextual embedding of a task and interactions between cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational processes influence students' engagement and reasoning in physics tasks. The Task-Specific Motivational Stimulus (TSMS) Model integrates research from motivational psychology and dual process theory of reasoning. It describes how the feeling of rightness (FOR) and feeling of difficulty (FOD) that accompany the heuristically constructed first impression mental model of task type (FIMM) can shape situational expectancy x value estimations. During task typification, general physics-specific self-efficacy beliefs and test-related costs are specified for the task at hand, resulting in a task-specific motivational stimulus: the weighted estimated probability for solving the task (WEPST). The intensity of the WEPST determines the probability that students decide to engage in physics-specific analytic reasoning processes for task representation rather than simply relying on the probably incorrect first impression mental model of the task. We discuss the usefulness and validity of the TSMS model, its practical and theoretical contribution, its transferability to tasks in other domains, and propose hypotheses for testing the model.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_00490
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Stimulus-Response Model for Explaining When Students Decide to Engage in a Physics Task: The TSMS-Model
Cauet, Eva
Kauertz, Alexander
Physics Education
This paper introduces a testable model for physics-specific student engagement at the onset of task processing in response to a task-specific motivational stimulus. Empirical research provides evidence that contextual embedding of a task and interactions between cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational processes influence students' engagement and reasoning in physics tasks. The Task-Specific Motivational Stimulus (TSMS) Model integrates research from motivational psychology and dual process theory of reasoning. It describes how the feeling of rightness (FOR) and feeling of difficulty (FOD) that accompany the heuristically constructed first impression mental model of task type (FIMM) can shape situational expectancy x value estimations. During task typification, general physics-specific self-efficacy beliefs and test-related costs are specified for the task at hand, resulting in a task-specific motivational stimulus: the weighted estimated probability for solving the task (WEPST). The intensity of the WEPST determines the probability that students decide to engage in physics-specific analytic reasoning processes for task representation rather than simply relying on the probably incorrect first impression mental model of the task. We discuss the usefulness and validity of the TSMS model, its practical and theoretical contribution, its transferability to tasks in other domains, and propose hypotheses for testing the model.
title A Stimulus-Response Model for Explaining When Students Decide to Engage in a Physics Task: The TSMS-Model
topic Physics Education
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.00490