Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, Issue 55, 2014, 123-136 Motivation for Instrument Education: a Study from the Perspective of Expectancy-Value and Flow Theories Sabahat BURAK* Suggested Citation: Burak, S. (2014). Motivation for instrument education: A Study with the perspective of expectancy-value and flow theories, Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 55, 123-136. http://dx.doi.org/10.14689/ejer.2014.55.8 Abstract Problem Statement: In the process of instrument education, students being unwilling (lacking motivation) to play an instrument or to practise is a problem that educators frequently face. Recognizing the factors motivating the students will yield useful results for instrument educators in terms of developing correct teaching methods and approaches. Factors motivating the students are addressed from the perspective of several motivational theories in the relevant literature. Purpose of the Study: In this research, factors motivating students to play their instruments are explained in light of the perspectives of expectancy- value and flow theories. Moreover, I tried to tie these factors to variables such as the school of the students, sex, etc. Method: This study was performed at institutions providing professional music education in Antalya and Burdur, Turkey. The study group consisted of 190 students and data were collected by a questionnaire developed to determine the motivations of students from the perspectives of flow and expectancy-value theories. The questionnaires consisted of two parts. In the first part, the personal characteristics of the students (sex, age, school, grade, daily instrument practise duration, number of years of playing, pass mark of instrument class, etc.) were recorded. In the second part, questions were prepared to determine the motivation of students within the scope of expectancy-value and flow theories. While preparing the questions, four sub-aspects of the expectancy-value theory were taken into consideration. Descriptive statistical techniques were applied to determine the demographic characteristics of the participants. A chi- squared test was conducted for two variables to determine whether the answers varied as according to sex, age, school, grade, daily instrument practise time, and number of years of playing. Findings and Results: The questionnaire answers showed significant differences based on several personal characteristics of the students. * Dr. Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey. Email:[email protected]. 123 124 Sabahat Burak Conclusions and Recommendations: Instrument educators should observe of the abilities of their students to motivate them and increase their daily practise time and success. Educators should be careful about giving instructions in accordance with the levels of their students. Keywords: Instrument education, motivation, expectancy-value, flow This study focuses on using the correct teaching techniques to instruct students at playing instruments and getting students to adopt a habit of conscious practise. In addition, student lacking willingness (motivation) to play and instrument or practise is a problem that instrument educators frequently face. Recognizing factors motivating the students creates useful results for instrument educators in terms of developing correct teaching methods and approaches. Factors motivating the students are addressed from the perspective of several motivation theories in the relevant literature. Expectancy-Value Theory Theories have been developed relating to achievement motivation to try to explain which tasks are preferentially selected by people. These theories also investigate how people make efforts to achieve their goals. There are many motivating factors and theories that explain these factors. According to expectancy- value theory, the choice of task determines a person’s performance and effort, perception about how well this person performs this task and his/her esteem about the task (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000). With regards to the expectancy-value theory, the expectancy is the probability that behaviour will achieve the aim; the value is the level of significance of that aim (Açıkgöz, 2005, p. 227). According to expectancy- value theory, individuals may consider many options, compare them with each other and may choose the task that they regard as the highest (and whose realization probability is the highest; Açıkgöz, 2005, p. 228). The person considers tasks to be attractive, easy and logical based on the theory; if he believes that he will accomplish that task, he will be motivated to perform the task. According to another point of view, behaviours of the individual are the outcome of his desires or values and his beliefs are the judgment about the world and himself (Scheibe, 1970). The perception of an individual performing a task is related to the perception about how useful he deems the task to be in the future. For a student to be motivated to complete a task, he needs to value and place emphasis on the outcome. Furthermore, the student needs to believe in achieving the task at that time or in the future. Wigfield and Eccless (2000) discuss that these definitions may be compared with very similar definitions. For instance, Bandura (1997) addressed the concept of expectancy while addressing self-efficacy. This author distinguished efficacy expectancies or the belief that a person will complete a task and outcome expectancies or beliefs that efforts will translate into the desired outcome. Bandura (1997) expressed that expectancy- value theorists are interested in outcome expectancy in the models they develop. These individuals see the models as an aim relating to the future and they present data predicting expectancies of efficacy relating to performance and choice of the person more than outcome expectancies (Wigfield & Eccless, 2000, p.70). Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 125 Studies in fields other than music show that students decide which fields are significant to them at a very young age and make judgments about their efficacies for a particular task (Wigfield 1994; Wigfield & Eccless, 1992). In a study conducted in expectancy-value theory in music education, 133 instrument students participated. The ages of the students ranged between 7 and 9 years and all of the students were in at the beginning stages of playing instruments. The study concluded that the students’ expectancies and the values that they placed on music education were the elements that determined their progression in music. Although students in the study group had not yet started music education, they expressed clear expectations and values about music education. Students showed specific levels of interest in learning to play instruments and were conscious of the costs required to be engaged in music. The students were also aware of being good at music and the benefits of music for short-term and long-term goals. While many students considered music to be a sport, hobby or other means of entertainment, the significant majority of students were interested in music intrinsically. However, students do not view music as a career field for the future. It was understood that the intrinsic motivation levels of some students were low; these students they were aware of the benefits of being successful at music for their overall education. Although being engaged in music is useful for the vast majority of students, it is not a very likely significant occupation for the future. Few students considered music as a career field. Another interesting finding of the study is the relationship between the comments of students learning to play an instrument and their musical performances over the last 9 months. Students stating that they would play their instrument for a few years showed the least progress, no matter how long they practised at home; students indicating that they would continue to play their instruments achieved the highest performance levels (McPherson, 2000). Expectancy-value theory constitutes an important aspect of studies on motivation (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996; Barry, 2007) and has four sub- aspects: Attainment Value relates to the importance that a student places on accomplishing a particular task (Barry, 2007). This term refers to how important a student believes it is to do well on a task (O’Neill & McPherson, 2002). Here, the value that a student places on the outcome of the task is in question. For instance, if the student wants to be regarded as a good musician by his friends, he will be motivated to play at a concert; the student lacking such motivation will not be similarly prompted to participate in a concert. A student desiring to be a good musician will consider playing his instrument as a way to reach this aim and will be motivated to practise. Intrinsic Motivation describes the personal enjoyment and satisfaction that a student derives from making music (Barry, 2007). This term can also be described as the feeling of enjoyment that an instrumentalist has when performing for the sheer pleasure of making music (O’Neill & McPherson, 2002). For instance, students playing instruments since they enjoy the sound of instruments (as opposed to being concerned about grades or other external stimuli) have intrinsic motivation; these students love and enjoys the task whatever it is. Extrinsic motivation refers to being interested in music to achieve an aim not having a direct relation to the musical performance. O’Neill and McPherson (2002) describe extrinsic motivation as the extrinsic utility value of learning. Here, the 126 Sabahat Burak important aspect is the extrinsic benefits of playing the instrument and importance attributed to these benefits by the student. These extrinsic benefits may be targets for future, such as career choices. For instance, practising an instrument for the purpose of obtaining a passing mark, external awards and compliments of parents or teachers without enjoying the process of making music shows that a student has extrinsic motivation. While extrinsic motivation is deemed necessary and useful for some cases in education, excessive use of extrinsic motivation may occasionally cause unfavourable situations. The student may depend on extrinsic stimuli such as awards, marks or compliment to be engaged in music; when these stimuli disappear, interest may disappear, too. Perceived Cost The perceived negative aspects of learning an instrument such as the amount of practise required for continual improvement are defined as the perceived cost of engaging in the activity. Children may decide that the cost of practising every day is not worth the effort, because it does not leave sufficient time for other activities in their life, such as sports (O’Neill & McPherson, 2002). Flow Theory Another theory we investigate by examining theories of motivation for instrument education is the theory of flow developed by Csikszentmihalyi. Csikszentmihalyi (1990) questioned the happiness of life; his theory expressed that being happy started at the point that the person established control over his conscious. Experiences that we feel when our actions are under our control and we feel great pleasure performing tasks are called optimal experiences (Csikszentmihalyi 1990; Özşahin, 2003). An optimal experience is recognized as the most important part of Csikszentmihalyi’s theory. It is necessary to achieve a balance between the level of difficulty perceived for a task and the efficacy of skills of the person to achieve that task to experience. (O’Neill & McPherson, 2002). Achieving a balance between the task and skill by definition means that the individual finds that the task is pleasant and is motivated to complete that task. Failing to achieve a balance between the level of difficulty of the task and the level of skill leads to negative outcomes in terms of motivation. If the task is very easy and the level of skill is very high, boredom will ensue. If, on the other hand, the task is very difficult and the level of skill required is very low, anxiety will arise. If the task is easy and the level of skill is low, apathy will become evident. If the level of challenge of the task and the level of skill are both high, flow will occur (O’Neill & McPherson 2002; Özşahin, 2003). Balance between skill and challenge occurs consistently during a period of education. For instance, a student beginning to play an instrument may have difficulty perceiving the skills taught at the beginning. Anxiety may arise since he will not consider his level of skill to be sufficient to play at the level instructed by the teacher. As he practises, he will dominate the study and flow will occur while practising. Then, once he learns very well and exceeds the level of skill, he will get bored with practising and lose the motivation to practise. The following criteria are required for flow: activities requiring skill that compel the person, clear goals and feedback, concentration on the task at hand, sense of control, loss of self consciousness and transformation of time. Although the theory of flow is discussed as one of the theories of motivation, the flow process is the most ideal learning environment based on the theory. As a result, when individuals are Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 127 faced with a difficult task for which they have highly developed skills, they derive the highest pleasure for that task; their thoughts are in flow without being attached to anything. This case translates into an ideal learning environment based on the theory (Custodero, 2005). Scientific research about the theory of flow started with the self-reports of adults and adolescents about their daily lives (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; Csikszentmihalyi & Larson 1984; Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 1988; Özşahin, 2003). Additional studies on sports (Jackson & Marsc, 1996) and musical activities (O’Neill, 1999; Custodero, 1999, 2005) also contributed to this field of research. O’Neill (1999) tried to explain the effects of motivational and social factors of instrument students using the process of musical development with the flow model. Custodero (1999) developed a method to observe the flows of students during music activities and examined the flow experiences of music education in early childhood. The flow experiences of students decreased with age. Byrne (2003) analysed the relations between the flow experiences of students and creative products and came to the conclusion that there was a significant relation between musical compositions and flow experiences of university students. According to the literature, many factors motivating the students are applicable to instrument education. It is important to determine the factors motivating the students in terms of forming the instructional programme and raising the performance level. In this research, I tried to explain the factors motivating the students in terms of expectancy-value and flow theories. Moreover, it was tried to benefit the relation of these factors with variables such as school of students, sex, etc. We believe that revealing these relations will shed light on teaching students how to play instruments and will serve as a resource for future research. Method Research Sample This study was performed at institutions providing professional music education in Antalya and Burdur, Turkey Country. These schools included the Akdeniz University Faculty of Fine Arts, the Department of Music (FFA), the Turkish Music Conservatory (TMC) and the Western Music Conservatory (A.U. Cons) in Antalya and Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Faculty of Education Department of Music Education (MAKU) in Burdur, Turkey Country. A total of 190 students attending these institutions participated in the study. The demographics of the students are as follows: 53.2% were females and 46.5% were males and 18.9% were between the ages of 17 and 19. Nearly one third ( 28.9%) of students attended the FFA; 12.6% were students of the TMC and 8.4% were students of the Western Music Conservatory. Moreover, 28.9% of students attended until grade 1, 37.4% attended until grade 2, 15.8% attended until grade 3 and 17.9% attended until grade 4. Nearly one quarter (24.7%) of students practise their instruments a minimum of 1 hour per day; 52.1% of students practise for 1–2 hours and 23.2% practise for 3 hours or more per day. About one third (32.6%) of students have been playing an instrument for 0–2 years, 30.5% of students have been playing instruments for 3–5 years, 25.8% of students 128 Sabahat Burak have been playing instruments for 6–8 years and11.1% of students have been playing instruments for more than 9 years. Research Instrument and Procedure The data were collected by a questionnaire developed to determine the motivations of the students with respect to their instruments in light of the theories of flow and expectancy value. The questionnaires consisted of two parts. In the first part, personal characteristics such as sex, age, school, grade, daily practise duration, and number of years of playing and pass mark in the instrument class were determined. In the second part, questions were prepared to determine the motivation of students with respect to their instruments within the scope of expectancy-value and flow theories. The Cronbach α coefficient of the scale was found to be α=0.719. Table 1 Factors Motivating Students to Play Instruments Theory Item Attainment Value, I play the instrument because I want to be regarded a good Expectancy-Value Theory musician by my friends Extrinsic Motivation, I play the instrument because I think being a musician will Expectancy-Value Theory yield good money Intrinsic Motivation, I play the instrument because I enjoy playing the instrument Expectancy-Value Theory very much Extrinsic Motivation, I play the instrument because I think if I am good at playing, Expectancy-Value Theory I will achieve a good mark Perceived Cost, Expectancy- I play the instrument because playing the instrument is a Value Theory more important occupation for me than daily tasks Theory of Flow If the work that I should practise is lower than my level of skill, I don’t want to practise because I get bored Theory of Flow If the work that I should practise is higher than my level of skill, I am very worried and don’t want to practise that work Theory of Flow I don’t regard playing the instrument at all, because my level of skill is very low and the effort needed to practises is very low While preparing the questions, four sub-aspects of the expectancy-value theory were taken into consideration (Barry, 2007, p. 24). These aspects are attainment value, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and perceived cost. The questionnaire was given by the researcher at the school within class hours. Eight scales that were missing or completed incorrectly were not included in the study. Data Analysis Descriptive statistical techniques were applied to determine the demographic characteristics of the participants. A chi-squared test was conducted for two variables Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 129 to determine whether the students’ answers varied according to personal variables such as sex, age, school, grade, daily practise duration and year of playing. This technique tests whether there is a significant relation between two categorical variables (Büyüköztürk, 2010, p. 148). Results Means and standard deviations of answers to the questionnaire items were calculated to determine which factors motivated students to play instruments the most. The item “I play the instrument because I enjoy playing instrument very much” had the highest point average (4.37) and was an intrinsic motivation element; the expression “I don’t regard playing the instrument at all because both my level of skill is very low and the effort needed to practises is very low” was the element of the flow theory has and had the lowest point average (2.17). The rate of responses of “I play the instrument because I want to be regarded as a good musician by my friends” was 47.4% for prospective teachers attending MAKU, 40.0% for students of FFA and 18.8% for Western Music Conservatory students. The rate of students answering “I agree” to the same expression was 25.3% for students of MAKU, 36.4% for students of FFA, 58.3% for students of TMC and 43.8% for students of the Western Music Conservatory. The variance observed for the answers of playing instruments to be regarded as a good musician by others was significant (2 (6, N=190) =13.263, p= .039). No significant relations were found between answers and other variables (sex, age, grade, daily practise duration, number of years of playing). The majority of students who practised for less than 1 hour per day agreed with the expression “I play the instrument because I enjoy playing the instrument very much” (72.3%). The rate increased to 88.9% for students who practised 1–2 hours a day and rose to 93.2% for students practicing 3 hours or more. According to the chi- squared results of answers to the above expression, there was a significant difference with daily practise duration (2 (6, N=190)=18.521, p= .005). No significant relation was found between answers to this question and other variables (sex, age, grade, school, number of years of playing). Considering the sample of females, 16.8% selected the expression “I play the instrument because I think if I am good at playing I think I will achieve a good mark,” 27.7% answered “I slightly agree” and 55.4% answered “I agree.” Considering the sample of males, 30.3% answered the same expression with “I don’t agree,” 16.9% answered “I slightly agree,” and 52.8% answered “I agree.” Answers to this expression differed significantly according to sex (2 (2, N=190) =6.256 p= .044). No significant relations were found between answers to this question and other variables (school, age, grade, daily practise duration, number of years of playing). The rate of the answers of “I don’t agree” for “I play the instrument because I think being a musician will yield good money” was 40.0% for prospective teachers attending MAKU, 21.8% for students of FFA, 8.3% for students of TMC, and 18.8% for Western Music Conservatory students. While students of FFA provided the answer “I agree” at a rate of 52.7%, students of Western Music Conservatory and 130 Sabahat Burak TMC gave an answer of “I slightly agree” with a rate of 50%. A significant difference was found by the schools of students thinking that the reason for playing an instrument was the good income (2 (6, N=190) =18.521, p= .005). No significant relation was found between the answers to this question and other variables (sex, age, grade, daily practise duration, number of years of playing). Students practising for less than 1 hour per day provided the answer “I don’t agree” for the expression of “I play the instrument because playing the instrument is a more important occupation for me than daily tasks” at a rate of 25.5%, 40.4% of students gave the answer ”I slightly agree,” and 34.X% gave the answer of “I agree.” The rate of students practising for 1–2 hours a day for the same expression was 71.7% and the rate of students practising for 3 hours or more for the same expression was 65.9%. Answers to the expression “I play the instrument because playing the instrument is a more important occupation for me than daily tasks” show significant differences according to daily practise duration (2 (4, N=190) =20.319, p= .000). We now examine the results according to grade of students; 72.7% of grade 1 students, 60.6% of grade 2 students, 63.3% of grade 3 students and 41.2% of grade 4 students provided the answer “I agree” to the expression “I play the instrument because playing the instrument is a more important occupation for me than daily task.” The difference between answers to this expression was found to be significant (2 (6, N=190) =18.246, p= .006).For students practising less than 1 hour per day, 61.7% gave the answer “I agree” for the expression “If the work that I should practise is lower than my level of skill, I don’t want to practise because I get bored.” The corresponding rate was 41.4% for students practising 1–2 hours a day and 38.6% for students practising for 3 hours or more each day. Based on the results of the chi- squared test for the answers of the above expression, the answers showed significant differences according to daily practise duration (2 (6, N=190) =12.521 p= .005). No significant relation was found between other variables (sex, age, grade, school, number of years of playing) and answers to this question. The rate of students providing the answer “I don’t agree” for the expression “If the work that I should practise is higher than my level of skill, I am very worried and don’t want to practise that work” was 30.5% for prospective teachers attending MAKU, 36.4% for students of FFA, 66.7% for students of TMC and 62.5% for students of the Western Music Conservatory. These differences were significant (2 (6, N=190) =14.882 p= .022). Students practising for less than 1 hour a day gave the answer “I agree” for the expression “If the work that I should practise is higher than my level of skill, I am very worried and don’t want to practise that work” at a rate of 59.6%; students that practised more than 3 hours per day gave the answer “I don’t agree” at a rate of 61.4%. Pursuant to the results of the chi-squared test for the answers of the above expression, the answers of students differed significantly according to daily practise duration (2 (4, N=190) =20.835, p= .000). Students who had played an instrument for 9 or more years gave the answer “I don’t agree” at a rate of 76.2% for the expression “If the work that I should practise is higher than my level of skill, I am very worried and don’t want to practise that work.” A corresponding rate of 14.3% students provided the answer “I agree,” students playing for 3–5 years gave the answer “I agree” at a rate of 37.9% and students playing for 6–8 years gave the answer “I agree” at the rate of 40.8%. The Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 131 answers to the above expression showed significant difference according to the number of years that the students had been playing an instrument (2 (6, N=190) =14.490, p= .025). Discussion and Conclusion Answers to the questionnaire about motivation showed significant differences based on the personal characteristics of the students. The answer “I agree” for students in the Turkish music conservatory for the expression “I play the instrument because I want to be regarded as a good musician by my friends” (the element of attainment value) was calculated to be significantly higher than the corresponding fractions of students from other schools who responded similarly. Attainment value is related to the importance that a person attaches to a task (O’Neill & Mcpherson, 2002). Based on these results, students of Turkish music wanted to be regarded as a good musician by their friends in terms of social and cultural structure of the school. The answer of “I agree” for the expression “I play the instrument because I enjoy playing the instrument very much” (an element of intrinsic motivation) for students practising for 3 hours or more each day was calculated to be given significantly more frequently than other answers. Intrinsic motivation is defined as a pleasure that derives from making music (O’Neill & Mcpherson, 2002). Based on this result, a student enjoying practising will carry on practising to sustain this pleasure. This result shows parallelism with the findings of Schmidt (2005), who found that performance and effort are related to self-concept and intrinsic motivation in his study on the relationships among motivation, performance achievement and musical experience. Moreover, practise time was found to be primarily related to intrinsic motivation. Answers of “I agree” of female students for the expression “I play the instrument because I think if I am good at playing, I will achieve a good mark” (an element of extrinsic motivation) occurred significantly more frequently than similar answers from male students. This result does not support the findings of Rusillo and Arias (2004), whose research concluded that female students developed lower extrinsic motivation than male students in their study when they examined academic success and sex relations. 40% of MAKU students gave the answer of “I don’t agree” for the expression of “I play the instrument because I think being a musician will yield good money in the future” (an extrinsic motivation element). FFA students answered similarly at a rate of 52.7%. Extrinsic motivation relates to students practising for extrinsic reasons, such as future targets and career preferences (O’Neill & McPherson, 2002). It is observed that students of the faculty of education that did not have the goal of earning money from playing the instruments provided the answer “I don’t agree” mostly for this expression. In addition, students in the department of music planning to earn money by playing the instrument mostly gave the answer “I agree” for the same expression. Considering answers to the expression “I play the instrument because playing the instrument is a more important occupation for me than daily tasks” as being 132 Sabahat Burak elements of perceived cost, positive answers to the expression increased as the duration of daily practise increased and reduced as the students got older. Perceived cost is related to the extent of preference of students for playing instruments at that moment and coping with the difficulties (Barry, 2007). Accordingly, additional practise rather than completing other tasks can be considered a usual outcome. In addition, reduction of answers of the same expression for lower-grade students can be interpreted a reduction in motivation as the students get older. Answers to the expression “If the work that I should practise is lower than my level of skill, I don’t want to practise because I get bored” varied according to the duration of daily practise. It is possible to draw the conclusion that the reason behind the minimal practise of students can be due to a mismatch between ability levels and assigned work. Over two thirds (66.7%) of students of Turkish music provided the answer “I don’t agree” to the expression “If the work that I should practise is higher than my level of skill, I am very worried and don’t want to practise that work” and 44.2% of students of the faculty of education gave the answer “I agree.” One can conclude that students in the Turkish music conservatory achieved a better balance between skill and challenge. Again, it is seen that answers of the same expression differed according to the daily practise duration of the students. Accordingly, 61.4% of students practising for 3 hours or more each day gave the answer “I don’t agree” and 59.6% of students practising for less than 1 hour gave the answer “I agree.” One can conclude that the balance between skill and challenge and flow significantly affects daily the practise durations of the students. Students who had been practising for 9 years or more gave the answer “I don’t agree” at a rate of 76.2% and 41.9% of students practising for 0–2 years gave the answer “I agree.” Concern diminishes with additional years of playing and the balance between skill and challenge improves. The following recommendations can be presented in accordance with the results of this study: Instrument educators should observe levels of their students to motivate them and to increase daily practise duration and success. Educators should be careful about instructing works in accordance with the levels of their students. Intrinsic motivation mechanisms of theory of flow are an important step in this flow process. Even if the teacher determines a workload convenient for the level of a student, self- regulation, self-control, concentration, awareness and motivation may affect the processes of learning and teaching adversely. For this reason, the theory imposes the task of achieving a balance between the motivation of the student and the individual and social different motivation sources to affect this motivation beyond choosing the correct repertoire in practice (Özmenteş, 2010). In addition, due to the reasons discussed above, knowledge about how students can be motivated is required. Studies on motivation for instruments and music education should be sustained, the relation between motivation level and instrument performance should be analysed and studies and research about reflections of other motivation theories for instrument education should be conducted. Socio-cultural variables to direct motivation sources of students should furthermore be determined. Qualitative research methodologies for music/instrument education research should be developed and employed. The subject of “musician psychology” should be addressed during the process of teacher/academician education.