Events that Promote Engineering Students' Intrinsic Motivation to Learn

Trenshaw, Kyle F.; Alonso, Renata A. Revelo; Earl, Katherine A.; Herman, Geoffrey L.

doi:10.18260/1-2--20442

Cited by 41 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…As examples, Wijnia et al (2011) reported higher learner competence in problem-based learning (PBL) courses compared to lecture-based learning; Liu et al (2009) found high degrees of competence and relatedness in project settings; and Nie and Lau (2010) found higher student self-efficacy and perceived value in courses with constructivist instruction compared to didactic instruction. Trenshaw et al (2014) reported that, compared to exams, design projects have a more positive impact on learner competence, and that relatedness serves as a key factor in promoting internalized motivations in projects. Stolk, Jacobs, et al (2018) illustrated strong positive correlations between competence and autonomy and self-determined motivations in a project-based setting.…”

Section: Motivation and Pedagogymentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivation, pedagogy, and gender: examining the multifaceted and dynamic situational responses of women and men in college STEM courses

2021

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Background Research illustrates that student motivations influence learning engagement, persistence, and achievement in powerful ways and that positive motivations are linked to deeper learning, critical thinking, pro-social behavior, and better performance. Most studies of learner motivation, however, are conducted outside of STEM and are focused at the contextual level, which may describe why students attend college or choose a degree program, but not why they engage in classroom activities. Furthermore, there is little research that meaningfully connects learner motivations with gender identity and course pedagogy. This study addresses these gaps by examining the interconnections among course pedagogy, gender, and situational-level motivations, which reveal why learners engage in different course activities and how engagement may vary over time. This detailed perspective on learner motivations is essential for instructors to gain insights into how their pedagogical and course design choices influence students’ motivational responses and to more effectively develop interventions that support positive forms of motivation among all students. Results Participants in the study are undergraduate students enrolled in 72 introductory-level STEM courses across 11 institutions, and the dataset includes over 5000 unique responses to the Situational Motivation Scale, a Self-Determination Theory-based instrument that was administered weekly in each course. Analysis reveals seven typical motivational response types, ranging from a highly control-oriented to a highly autonomous response. Most students express multiple types of motivation during an academic term in a course, illustrating the dynamic nature of motivations. Cluster distributions by gender and pedagogy indicate significant differences in lecture-based learning courses, with women reporting less self-determined motivations compared to men. Motivational response profiles of women and men are both more similar, and more positive overall, in courses that employ active learning. Conclusions These findings have important implications for practitioners. The concept of motivational co-expression encourages instructors to move toward a more nuanced appraisal of learner motivation. The stability analyses challenge embedded beliefs about the fixed nature of learner motivation. The gender analyses raise questions about how instructors may more effectively promote the positive motivations of all students through their course design decisions.

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Section: Motivation and Pedagogymentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivation, pedagogy, and gender: examining the multifaceted and dynamic situational responses of women and men in college STEM courses

2021

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“…Particularly, [29] argued that it is important whether a game type is appropriate to the learning content and whether the latter is suitable for a game at all, referring to [30] as an illustration. In addition, [31] and [22] advocate that the effectiveness of applying gamification to enhance the level of motivation for studying depends largely on whether the game elements support certain psychological needs of students, which is consistent with the postulates of the self-determination theory. On top of that, [32] emphasizes the worth of game thinking for applying gamification in an educational context.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

A Meta-Analysis on the Impact of Gamification over Students’ Motivation

Mamekova

Toxanbayeva

Naubaeva

et al. 2021

J. Intellect. Disabl. Diagn. Treat.

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Controversy surrounds the effectiveness of educational gamification on learners’ motivation to study. Prior papers attempting to summarize the available empirical evidence on the topic encompass too many additional domains like the academic performance so that the motivational point is discentrated. Hence, the current meta-analysis aimed to synthesize research findings limited to the clearly stated impact of gamification on higher education students’ academic motivation. Results from random effects proportion meta-analysis applied to seven relevant studies with a total of 368 students showed a pooled proportion of 29.68%. In other words, game design elements incorporated into the learning activities were significantly motivating for only about one-third of participants. The assumption of homogeneity was violated for certain reasons. As part of the discussion, previous scholars’ efforts to identify moderating factors of successful gamification were overviewed, and their practicality was questioned. It is concluded that the issue of whether educational gamification can amplify students’ learning motivation remains an area for further research.

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“…We report how constructs shifted using coded qualitative data in a descriptive narrative, going construct-by-construct. This methodological process, including how we defined constructs of SDT and how we coded data by SDT constructs, is aligned to other studies using SDT to explore aspects of motivation in teaching and learning contexts (e.g., Hite et al, 2019 ; Jacobi, 2018 ; Trenshaw et al, 2016 ; Virkkula, 2020 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifts in learning assistants’ self-determination due to COVID-19 disruptions in Calculus II course delivery

et al. 2021

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Background The Learning Assistant (LA) model with its subsequent support and training has evidenced significant gains for undergraduate STEM learning and persistence, especially in high-stakes courses like Calculus. Yet, when a swift and unexpected transition occurs from face-to-face to online, remote learning of the LA environment, it is unknown how LAs are able to maintain their motivation (competence, autonomy, and relatedness), adapt to these new challenges, and sustain their student-centered efforts. This study used Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to model theoretical aspects of LAs’ motivations (persistence and performance) both before and after changes were made in delivery of a Calculus II course at Texas Tech University due to COVID-19 interruptions. Results Analysis of weekly written reflections, a focus group session, and a post-course questionnaire of 13 Calculus II LAs throughout Spring semester of 2020 showed that LAs’ reports of competence proportionally decreased when they transitioned online, which was followed by a moderate proportional increase in reports of autonomy (actions they took to adapt to distance instruction) and a dramatic proportional increase in reports of relatedness (to build structures for maintaining communication and building community with undergraduate students). Conclusions Relatedness emerged as the most salient factor from SDT to maintain LA self-determination due to the COVID-19 facilitated interruption to course delivery in a high-stakes undergraduate STEM course. Given that online learning continues during the pandemic and is likely to continue after, this research provides an understanding to how LAs responded to this event and the mounting importance of relatedness when LAs are working with undergraduate STEM learners. Programmatic recommendations are given for enhancing LA preparation including selecting LAs for autonomy and relatedness factors (in addition to competence), modeling mentoring for remote learners, and coaching in best practices for online instruction.

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Events that Promote Engineering Students' Intrinsic Motivation to Learn

Cited by 41 publications

References 14 publications

Motivation, pedagogy, and gender: examining the multifaceted and dynamic situational responses of women and men in college STEM courses

Motivation, pedagogy, and gender: examining the multifaceted and dynamic situational responses of women and men in college STEM courses

A Meta-Analysis on the Impact of Gamification over Students’ Motivation

Shifts in learning assistants’ self-determination due to COVID-19 disruptions in Calculus II course delivery

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