Engineering Students as Science Teachers: A Case Study on Students' Motivation

Abstract

Abstract-The program "Educational Clinic" was recently developed and implemented at the Technion -Israel Institute of Technology. This one year program is designed to train engineering students as teaching assistants in high schools in order to help high school pupils with mathematics and science. The study described in this paper tracked changes in students' motivation to participate in the program throughout the year. Data was collected by questionnaires and interviews. The findings reveal that alongside a fixed high level of extrinsic motivational factors, which reflect student satisfaction of improving their teaching skills, a considerable increase was found in the level of intrinsic motivational factors, which express the students' interest in the program.

Engineering Preparatory Programs: Students’ Academic Motivation

“…Due to the students' weak academic background, the program intensity, and the considerable student dropout rate, motivation plays an important role in EPPs [2]. The relevant literature, however, mainly deals with the academic motivation of high school students involved in engineering activities [3]- [4] and of undergraduate engineering students [5]- [6]. Therefore, the goal of this study was to characterize the motivational factors for studying engineering in students attending an EPP in Israel.…”

Developing Systems Thinking Skills: A High-School Course on Engineering Design

“…Due to the current shortage in engineers, many universities take extensive actions to enhance the interest of high-school students in engineering [1]- [2]. A unique course has recently been developed at the TechnionIsrael Institute of Technology for 12 th grade students majoring in physics and electronics.…”