Crosscutting Literature on STEAM Ecosystems, Expectancy Value Theory, and Social Emotional Learning: A Metadata Synthesis

Abstract

In this report, we describe the initial stages of a crosscutting research effort to characterize literature reviewed across 8 different projects—each with objectives aligned toward improving student engagement in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) fields. These projects sought to identify malleable factors (e.g., motivation, persistence) that could potentially be fostered to improve achievement motivation and build participation among historically underrepresented learners in STEAM pathways. Focusing on both the extent to which different broad and facet-level constructs are both discussed and assessed in a diverse pool of literature, we developed a standardized reporting structure and catalogued detailed information on 236 unique references. We found that, as a proportion of the number of times constructs in the STEAM, expectancy value (EV) theory, and social emotional learning (SEL) spaces were discussed in the reviewed literature, they were assessed relatively infrequently. We also found high levels of overlap in the literature across the above 3 focal areas, highlighting both the need to document new assessments designed to support STEAM engagement and an opportunity to use them to evaluate expectancy value theory as a holistic model.