MILES Lab

J'ai passé un moment formidable à l'Université Laval! Un grand merci à tous ceux qui ont assisté à la conférence et qui m'ont si bien accueilli!

I had a wonderful time at @ulaval.ca ! Many thanks to those who attended the talks and who made me feel so welcome!

Excited to share my new paper in CEP! The part I’m most excited about: we modeled how students’ major intentions shift alongside their motivational beliefs (expectancy, value, cost), offering a snapshot of the beliefs students hold as they navigate decisions about their majors.

😍😍

This allowed us to explore how students experience these beliefs in real time and how common/rare different motivational-intentional configurations are. Belonging distinguished the beneficial profile from maladaptive profiles, and profiles in turn predicted long-term persistence. Check it out!

Graphs of the 4-profile solutions are displayed, with names of the profiles being "Moderate Mixed Motivation, Invited In," "Value Focused Mixed Motivation, Weeded Out," Confident and Interested, Stable Intentions," and "Cost Focused Mixed Motivation, Weeded Out"

...we examined co-occurring patterns of motivational beliefs + changes in major intentions during introductory STEM courses. Instead of treating motivation and behavioral intentions as separate or sequential, we modeled how these processes work together during key decision-making periods.

📢Newly published CEP piece "Make or break STEM course experiences: Profiles of situated expectancy, value, cost, and major intentions" led by @sanheeta.bsky.social is FREE for 50 days here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1liIQ,8E16...

To look at how students make STEM decisions... @aera-motsig.bsky.social

MILES Lab representing at #APA25!

No *revisions* 😑

The bride surrounded by McGill grad student and professor guests on the dance floor

MILES lab PI and students, also Krista Muis and Jared Robinson, sitting together at the wedding dinner

MILES Lab proudly celebrates the publication—immediate acceptance with no reckons—of a brand new marriage! 🥂 Many congrats to Jessica and Matt and thank you so much for including us on your beautiful day!

Live footage of our team getting @aeraedresearch.bsky.social submissions finalized:

Pre-sabbatical summer starting off strong--I'm working my way through the important articles (+ their rich reference lists) in the fantastic special issue of CEP on Moving Educational Psychology Towards Anti-Racist Bodies of Knowledge: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu... HIGHLY recommended!

a batman logo is being projected on a dark background Alt: a batman logo is being projected on a dark background

Heads up that #AERA2026 reviewer invitations are starting to go out! We need YOU--many hands make light work! @aera-motsig.bsky.social @aera-motsig-grad.bsky.social

PhD candidate Sanheeta Shankar standing next to her poster titled "On the same page (mostly): Patterns of student consensus and ratings of goal climates in STEM"

PhD student Jessica Hunter standing next to her poster titled "Factors shaping STEM students’ feelings of autonomy: Insights from survey responses"

MILES Lab students @sanheeta.bsky.social and Jessica Hunter are at @canadianpsychology.bsky.social and shared their posters this morning--way to go!

MA student Romane Monnet next to her poster titled "Best Practices fr the Transmission of Knowledge in Science Laboratories"; she also presented a talk entitled "Data sharing parties: Disseminating classroom research findings and maintaining fruitful partnerships with collaborating instructors"

MA student Marianne Dubé next to her poster "More than just a number: Understanding students’ perceptions of specifications grading"

Outgoing MA student (and PhD student at UQAM this fall!) Florence Lessard next to her poster "Factors shaping students’ feelings of competence in undergraduate STEM education: A thematic analysis"

MILES Lab students had a great time at #SALTISE! Thanks to everyone who asked great questions and provided feedback!

📢 New publication alert! 📢 #AcademicSky #psychology #EduSky #EdPsych

Just published, hooray! psycnet.apa.org/record/2025-...

We learned so much from the process of writing this, and from the AERA session in which we first shared results last year. @aera-motsig.bsky.social @aeradivcgrad.bsky.social @psychscience.bsky.social #AcademicSky #CritQuant #edusky

MILES Lab & friends at AERA 2025 - Denver, CO, USA Associate Professor, motivation enthusiast, reader, runner, and mom

Throwback to some fun times at #AERA25 www.kristyarobinson.com/blog/miles-l...

Celebrating big wins in the @mileslab.bsky.social — federal and provincial funding awards, and graduations! What a great way to end the semester! 😍

Screenshot of where to click to volunteer to review, with an arrow pointing to the link

Great news--you can still volunteer to review for #AERA2026! To do so, go to www.aera.net/Membership/M... and click on "2026 AERA Annual Meeting - Call for Reviewers is Now Open." @aera-motsig.bsky.social @aera-motsig-grad.bsky.social @aeraedresearch.bsky.social

MILES Lab and friends at #AERA2025 ❤️ We loved seeing you all!

#tbt to this poster presentation at #AERA2025 led by Jessica Hunter and assisted by this awesome team, including @sanheeta.bsky.social @samanthamackie.bsky.social Great job, team! And thanks to those who stopped by to discuss!

Dynamics of Student Engagement and Peer Influence in Collaborative Settings Wednesday 10:50 am to 12:20pm Room 404

List of papers being presented in the session, including Cole’s paper « Helpful, Harmful, or Somewhere in Between: Exploring Features of Peer Motivational Climate Among University Mathematics Students »

Happening now #AERA2025: come see Cole present his paper « Helpful, Harmful, or Somewhere Between? Exploring Features of Peer Motivational Climate Among University Mathematics Students »

Room 404!

Congrats to PhD students Jessica Hunter and @sanheeta.bsky.social for winning second place in our department's International Graduate Student poster competition! 🎉

sweating choice meme with the first button labeled "Expectancy-Value Theory" and the second button labeled "Expectancy-Value-Cost Theory"

When you just want to write about your favorite theory without accidentally wading into a controversy. As another plot twist: whether or not to include "situated" in the title. :)

#MotivationScholarMemes #MotivationMonday

"one does not simply meme" (from Lord of the Rings) with the text "One does not simply use extrinsic motivators"

New year, new opportunities to motivate & be motivated! Careful use of praise and rewards can be helpful when otherwise lacking good reasons for engaging, but they're a risky move for the already motivated folks.
#MotivationMonday #MotivationScholarMemes #EduSky #AcademicSky @aera-motsig.bsky.social

"one does not simply meme" (from Lord of the Rings) with the text "One does not simply use extrinsic motivators"

New year, new opportunities to motivate & be motivated! Careful use of praise and rewards can be helpful when otherwise lacking good reasons for engaging, but they're a risky move for the already motivated folks.
#MotivationMonday #MotivationScholarMemes #EduSky #AcademicSky @aera-motsig.bsky.social

Check out our newest lab publication!

Drake meme with "Motivation is a trait: you have it or you don't" on top and "motivation is a highly contextual, socially regulated process" on the bottom

#tbt to an oldie but a goodie that we use a lot in our presentations! #edusky #academicsky #MotivationScholarMemes #edpsych

For more on this, see Dr. R's open access article on motivational support and climate: doi.org/10.1080/0046...

car swerving meme with "social comparisons" on the main road and "intra-personal comparisons" on the exit sign

Comparing #students to each other (or yourself to others) promotes a focus on the goal of demonstrating (rather than developing) competence.

Noting growth over time & progress toward goals -> supports learning goals!
#MotivationScholarMemes #MotivationMonday #MondayMotivation

Facebook flag symbol and the text "Marked safe from external, uncontrollable attributions today"

As we transition over from the old place, some #tbt:

For our attribution theory pals! A good reminder for us all--how we explain the causes of our successes and failures in our own minds really matters for our subsequent motivation, emotions, and behavior. #MotivationScholarMemes #MotivationMonday