Kristy A. Robinson

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor (Assistant) at McGill University

Although achievement motivation research has produced powerful principles for supporting students in general, minoritized students’ motivational experiences and evidence of opportunities that are particularly important for supporting their success in higher education science, technology, engineering, and mathematics settings is largely missing from...

Throughout 2023 and 2024, we served as co-guest editors of a topical collection in Educational Psychology Review on The Past, Present, and Future of Theory Development in Educational Psychology. In this topical collection, authors of prominent theories in the field were invited to reflect upon how they generated, developed, and iterated their ideas...

Research on classroom motivational climates and microclimates—students’ shared and idiosyncratic perceptions of motivational classroom features—demonstrates their importance for fostering adaptive motivational and achievement-related outcomes. However, a lack of coherent theoretical guidance about the nature of students’ classroom climate perceptio...

Observational measures of teaching are scarce in the motivation literature, but are needed for furthering theoretical knowledge and recommendations for how teachers can support motivation. To inform the development of effective observational tools, particularly for STEM settings, and based on a synthesis of current practices for observing motivatio...

Students vary in their perceptions of teachers’ motivational supports, even within the same classroom, but it is unclear why this is the case. To enable the design of equitable environments and understand the theoretical nature of motivational climate, this study explored demographic differences in university students’ perceptions of instruction ac...

Using latent profile analysis, we identified profiles of expectancy beliefs, perceived values, and perceived costs among 1433 first‐ and second‐year undergraduates in an introductory chemistry course for STEMM majors. We also investigated demographic differences in profile membership and the relation of profiles to chemistry final exam achievement,...

Despite the benefits of afterschool programs, we know very little about what motivates adolescents to attend and what costs they might associate with doing so. Situated expectancy-value theory (SEVT) proposes that expectancy for success, value, and cost perceptions are motivational beliefs that are important precursors to students' engagement in su...

The study of classroom processes that shape students' motivational beliefs, although fruitful, has suffered from a lack of conceptual clarity in terminology, definitions, distinctions, and roles of these important processes. Synthesizing extant research and major theoretical perspectives on achievement motivation, I propose Motivational Climate The...

Control-value theory suggests that students’ control and value appraisals mediate the relation between contextual supports and student emotions in formal learning settings; however, this theory has not been tested in informal learning contexts. Understanding mechanisms for instructional support in informal learning contexts can inform the design of...

Intensive longitudinal methodologies continue to gain traction in educational psychology due to their numerous affordances; however, educational researchers have yet to fully consider how these methodologies may actually impact the phenomena under study. In the current study, we used a quasi-experimental design to examine how participating in a dia...

Students’ motivational profiles are of increasing interest due to their utility for understanding students’ complex, heterogeneous motivational experiences and the correlates of such experiences in real-world educational settings. Motivational profiles may be particularly important to consider in large, gateway STEM courses, which can be both costl...

Students, instructors, and policy makers are in need of research-based recommendations for supporting students’ motivation to pursue STEM fields. The present study addressed this need by examining relations between perceived motivational supports, year-long trajectories of expectancy for success and three task values, and grades among students ( N...

College students’ retrospective reports commonly indicate motivational declines associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Using Self-Determination Theory, the present study provided a more nuanced examination of the pandemic’s motivational effect by measuring actual change in six distinct types of motivation. We compared motivation trajectories from t...

Background Students are more likely to persist when they both perceive themselves as capable of success (expectancy) and perceive tasks to be interesting, important, and useful (values) or less costly in terms of effort, lost opportunities, and psychological stress (perceived costs). Prior research has not examined whether these motivational belief...

Using a situated expectancy-value theory perspective, we examined trajectories of expectancy for success and attainment value in introductory chemistry courses. Growth mixture modeling yielded four trajectory groups (classes) with unique patterns of expectancy and value over time. Perceptions of instructors’ connections to real life and enthusiasm...

This paper examined relations among classroom activities, students' momentary control-and value-related appraisals, and students' state emotions in high school science classrooms. Throughout 10 days of instruction, high school students (N = 244) reported their state emotions and task-specific control-and value-related appraisals during science clas...

Grounded in expectancy-value and stereotype threat theories, this four-year longitudinal study examined associations between changes in stereotype threat and motivation (self-efficacy, task values, and perceived costs) among 425 undergraduates from racial/ethnic groups typically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics...

The present study compares the structure, the longitudinal relation, and the predictive roles of emotions in-class and emotions while watching online video lectures outside of class. Participants (N = 269) reported their emotions, attentional control, and behavioral engagement associated with in-class activities and online lecture viewing at two ti...

The end of college is a key transition point when students prepare for the workforce or graduate school, and when competence beliefs that have been shaped throughout college play a particularly important role in decision-making processes. This study examined the roles of two competence beliefs, self-efficacy for scientific tasks and science academi...

The first year of college is a pivotal time for academic and personal development, yet there is still much to be learned about motivational change during this period. Using Self-Determination Theory (SDT), we assessed six distinct types of motivation among an initial sample of 776 students at four time points over the first year of college. Latent...

In the present study, latent profile analysis was used to identify profiles of momentary emotions for high school students in science classes (N = 244). Profiles were characterized by unique patterns of four emotions reported during high school science activities: happiness, excitement, boredom, and frustration. Momentary appraisals of control and...

This investigation of undergraduates’ heterogeneous science identity trajectories within a gateway chemistry course identified three latent classes (High and Stable, Moderate and Slightly Increasing, Moderate and Declining) using growth mixture modeling. Underrepresented minorities were more likely to exhibit Moderate-and-Slightly-Increasing scienc...

Educational Impact and Implications Statement Motivation processes provide a promising avenue for addressing attrition and representation issues in STEM fields. Yet, little is known about the development of specific forms of motivation and their correlates during the first 2 years of college, a key time for shaping motivational beliefs and future c...

This five-year longitudinal study investigates the development of science identity throughout college from an expectancy-value perspective. Specifically, heterogeneous developmental patterns of science identity across four years of college were examined using growth mixture modeling. Gender, race/ethnicity, and competence beliefs (efficacy for scie...

The current study reports on the efficacy of a multi-faceted motivationally designed undergraduate enrichment summer program for supporting science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) persistence. Structural equation modeling was used to compare summer program participants (n = 186), who participated in the program between their first and seco...

The current study identified affective profiles and examined their relations to behavioral engagement and disengagement as well as achievement among undergraduate students enrolled in a college anatomy course (N = 278). Cluster analysis was used to identify four affective profiles: Positive, Deactivated, Negative, and Moderate-Low. Students in the...

The effects of three interventions designed to boost academic achievement among mastery-oriented students were evaluated on interest-based studying, social desirability, and perceived goal difficulty. Undergraduate students (N = 177) completed relevant self-report measures at the beginning and the end of the semester and were randomly assigned to o...

In a “flipped classroom,” instructors post lectures online in the hope of using class time for more active learning activities. In theory, students watch the online lectures on their own, then bring questions to class for clarification and deeper understanding. Yet research and practice suggest that reality rarely matches this ideal, particularly i...

Robinson, K., Lee, Y.-K., Rosenberg, J.M., Klautke, H., Seals, C. Ranellucci, J., Wormington, S., Saltarelli, W., Linnenbrink-Garcia, L., & Roseth, C.