Social Comparison as a Motivational Agent among Students

Abstract

Abstract-This paper describes an experimental study that was performed among undergraduate students in their third year out of four required for their Software Engineering degree. The study's main purpose that stems from Maslow's motivational theory (self-actualization), was to explore possible motivational increase through self-grades comparisons. For that reason, a small Excel tool was provided with relative performance comparison graphs. Each student could enter his or her ID number and receive a two graphs figure. One graph represents the average class grades for all assignments and the second graph represents his or her assignments' grades. All assignments were individualized and personalized, so every student got a different set of assignments. The study revealed that the mechanism employed had a positive effect by increasing the average grades. The students' reflection supported these findings as some students expressed their views regarding the importance of their relative performance. The paper concludes with a discussion on the results and future follow-up directions.Index Terms-Enhancing students' motivation, personal and individual assignments, students' learning accountability. I. INTRODUCTIONThis paper describes an experimental study aimed at increasing the motivation of students learning towards their Software Engineering degree. 56 students in their third year (out of 4 years required for completing the degree) participated in the study that was conducted as part of the Methods in Software Engineering course. The course's grading scheme is based on 4 home assignments and an exam. All assignments were uniquely individualized due to the lecturer previous good experience with this tactic. Personal and individual assignments [1] imply that each student receives a different assignment so sharing or "borrowing" the solution or parts of the solution is impossible. As was demonstrated already this tactic has a positive influence on the students' learning habits [1], [2]. This study however, moved forward one additional step trying to increase the students' motivation even further. The idea used is based on Maslow's motivational theory [3] and it was implemented as a tool that provided each student with a comparative analysis of his or her relative performance as compared to the class average. This tool provided objective feedback the served the students in evaluating their personal performance in comparison to their peers. The experiment revealed that the comparative method had a positive effect on the learning habits which was manifested in the students' grades. The paper starts by briefly addressing some of the motivational theories, defines the special traits of the current students' generation and describes the experiment that was performed as part of the study. The last chapter is dedicated to a discussion related to the results obtained and thoughts about possible next stages. II. LITERATURE REVIEWThe term motivation has been addressed by many scholars since the early days of psychology. Motivation...