The role of motivational beliefs in pre-service teachers’ technology integration intentions: Longitudinal findings over one year

Understanding how pre-service teachers’ motivation toward educational technology develops during teacher education is essential for fostering classroom technology integration. Drawing on Situated Expectancy–Value Theory (SEVT), this longitudinal study examined (a) the stability of technology-related expectancies for success and task values and (b) their predictive effects on pre-service teachers’ intended technology integration, including reciprocal effects over time. Data were collected from N = 314 pre-service teachers enrolled in a Bachelor of Education program in Germany at two measurement points approximately one year apart. Participants completed self-report scales assessing digital competence beliefs, utility value, attainment value, intrinsic value, relative costs, and prospective technology integration. Confirmatory factor analyses supported scalar measurement invariance across time. Results showed moderate rank-order stability for all motivational constructs (r = .46–.68) and no significant mean-level changes, except for a small increase in perceived costs. Cross-lagged structural equation models revealed that digital competence beliefs and positive task values at Time 1 positively predicted prospective technology integration at Time 2, whereas relative costs showed no effect. No reciprocal relations were observed, suggesting that motivation functions as an antecedent rather than a consequence of technology-related intentions. Together, these findings indicate that pre-service teachers’ motivational beliefs remain relatively stable over one year of teacher education and are prospectively related to their intended technology use. The results provide longitudinal support for SEVT in the context of technology-related motivation, underscoring the importance of fostering positive digital competence beliefs and task values early in teacher education.