Change and Differentiation at Domain Level Motivation in Elementary and Junior High School Students:

Abstract

.) The present cross-sectional study examined changes in and differentiation of children ' s perceived utility value and interest in subjects in elementary and junior high school. Students attending a cram school ( 4 th graders: 252 boys, 221 girls; 5 th graders: 337 boys, 304 girls; 6 th graders: 429 boys, 381 girls; 7 th graders: 135 boys, 103 girls; 8 th graders: 147 boys, 138 girls; 9 th graders: 213 boys, 179 girls) completed questionnaires. Analysis of their responses revealed that, although the utility value of practice in English increased in the reports of the 7 th-grade students, the reported value of other subjects tended to decrease with increasing grade level. Furthermore, the reported utility value of entrance examinations tended to increase in English and decrease in science and social studies with increasing grade level. Correlations were found in students ' reported interest in subjects that are related, such as mathematics and science; this remained relevant in all grades. However, the correlation between unrelated subjects, such as mathematics and Japanese, weakened with increasing grade level. Although the correlation among the utility values tended to decrease, they remained relevant, but the trend for English differed from the other subjects.