We identified and examined how the instructional elements of problem-based learning capstone engineering courses affected students' motivation to engage in the courses. We employed a two-phase, sequential, explanatory, mixed methods research design. For the quantitative phase, 47 undergraduate students at a large public university completed a questionnaire that measured the components of the MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation (Jones, 2009): empowerment, usefulness, success, situational interest, individual interest, academic caring, and personal caring. For the qualitative phase that followed, 10 students answered questions related to the MUSIC components. We identified several instructional elements that led to motivating opportunities that affected students' motivation to engage in the courses. We discuss how these motivating opportunities can foster or hinder students' engagement and provide implications for instruction.

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The construction of asynchronous learning environments often involves the creation of self‐paced multimedia instructional episodes that provide the learner with control over the pacing of instruction (segmentation); however, does the amount of segmentation impact learning? This study explored the effects of the degree of segmentation on recall and application of new knowledge and the nature of learner dispositions toward segmentation. Undergraduate students (n = 212) were randomly assigned to engage in a 9‐minute multimedia tutorial (ie, instructionally designed video‐based presentation) addressing historical inquiry that was divided into 1, 7, 14 or 28 segments (degree of segmentation) where students had control over when each segment began via a “Continue” button. Students' dispositions toward the segmentation—helped learning, made learning easier, made learning confusing, was annoying or seemed appropriate—were also measured. Results indicated that increased segmentation facilitated recall and application; however, learners perceived a high degree of segmentation (28 segments) more negatively. Overall, these results indicate that increased segmentation within a multimedia instructional environment has a positive influence on recall and application, regardless of the learner's disposition toward the segmentation.

Purpose Previous attempts to solve complex problems in the field of education have often focused on one disciplinary perspective. This impedes the creation of meaningful solutions and lasting change. While an interdisciplinary approach has the potential for complex problem solving, it has often proven difficult. The purpose of this paper is to apply social capital and sense-making lenses to facilitate complex problem-solving on a large, interdisciplinary, National Science Foundation funded team. Design/methodology/approach Social network analysis (SNA) and interviews allowed for the examination of the existing underlying social structures of the project team, and the ways in which these underlying structures were impacting the team’s ability to leverage its own social capital. Findings Findings demonstrated that decentralized, low levels of weekly and daily collaboration may constrain the team’s capacity for collective sense-making and its ability to achieve coherence around project goals. Practical implications Using SNA to systematically study the underlying network structure of a team, with the intention to use that data to drive change, can allow teams to shape their networks over time to allow for sense-making and successful collaborations. It may be that, while large teams are studying their intended phenomena, they should also make time to study themselves. Social implications Increasing the successfulness of large teams stands to positively impact researchers’ abilities to create workable solutions to intractable problems. Originality/value While SNA is a popular approach to understanding school districts and the spread of educational innovations, this study uses SNA to understand the creation of solutions and innovations.

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