Students have often cited in the motivation research literature that they value behaviors that align with their personal interests. Such an intrinsic motivational scheme relates significantly to situated learning theories that propose the use of authentic tasks that are relevant to specific humanistic needs. Maslow's Hierarchy, for example, described motivation as the product of fulfilling these needs.

Value theory suggests that students have inherent curiosities that should be leveraged in the design and implementation of instruction. Students tend to be curious about experiences that initially puzzle them, a notion that Piaget termed disequilibration. Value theorists stress, though, that this state is temporary and subject to a novelty effect -- students will become unmotivated if the task is not related to relevant needs.

Value theory is closely associated with Expectancy theory, which attributes motivation to the behaviorist mantra of rewards and punishments, as well as the cognitivist notion that predictive thinking generates an expectation for success or failure. Motivation is highest when students expect to achieve a goal, especially when that goal is of value to them.

Bandura claims that learner self-efficacy is critically important to expectations. Students tend to set higher goals, and persist longer in striving to achieve them when they believe that they are competent in a particular task or context (based on previous experiences or influences).

Remember the Zip-Zap Map educational game that we played earlier in the semester? Remember our green, squeaky-voiced critter-buddy who kept falling into sinkholes and thereby providing "context" for the game?

Or what about this spelling game that embeds an egyptian mystery, the Lost Statue of Aton Ra, as an incentive for students to correct misspelled words?

1) What would an anchored-instruction theorist say about the inclusion of these animated characters and settings as major frameworks?
2) What would a schema theorist say?
3) How would a value theorist refute both those arguments?

Contrast the above examples with a WebQuest designed to teach finance within the context of purchasing a first automobile and earning a driver's license.

1) How would a value theorist justify this unit of activities?