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Undergraduates often report problematic perceptions of low value and high cost in their initial science courses. These beliefs often predict poor performance and retention, and also strengthen over time. Few studies have examined how profiles of value and cost beliefs emerge, and fewer track students’ transitions across profiles over a course and their implications for learning outcomes. We observed undergraduates’ value and cost perceptions for a science course at the beginning, middle, and end of a semester; fit latent profiles and latent transitions; and examined both how students’ demographics predicted profile membership and transition membership, and how such membership predicted achievement and intentions to continue in one’s major. Value-oriented, cost-oriented, and moderately-motivated profiles consistently emerged across time points, and 32% of students transitioned across them within the semester. Trends included stable, upward (with rising value to cost balance), downward, and fluctuating perceptions. Demographic characteristics predicted profile membership and transition likelihood. Stable value-oriented and upward transition profiles outperformed stable cost-oriented and downward transition profiles. Members of stable and increasingly cost-oriented profiles expressed stronger intentions to leave their STEM programs. Findings align to expectancy-value theory and indicate that initial and periodic surveying may be important to monitor perceptions known to impact achievement and retention. Value and cost interventions may be useful to encourage perceptions and transitions associated with positive outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
