Abstract
Student motivation has a large impact on information retention levels and overall student learning. Previous studies have demonstrated the higher a student’s intrinsic motivation, the more successful the student will be in the learning process. At the post-secondary level, student interest is often tied to expected career pathways and outcomes. This work explores student motivation in an engineering technology introductory foundations course. The course is required for all students in the engineering technology department and is recommended for students exploring the engineering technology discipline, creating a unique culture within the classroom. The course includes two lectures, one recitation, a hands-on laboratory, and has a total enrollment of over 300 undergraduate students from more than ten different majors. Students enrolled in the course completed a set of surveys based on the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) which is based on self-determination theory and is designed to measure perceived interest, intrinsic motivation, and other factors. The structure of this survey was built using subsets of questions (interest/enjoyment, perceived competence, value/usefulness, and relatedness) and quantitative responses based on a 7-point Likert scale. A statistical analysis was conducted to examine the students’ motivation, interest in the discipline, perceived competence, and correlated factors. The students were surveyed mid-semester and at the end of the term to determine the impact course activities had on their perceptions. Study results showed all left-skewed data (high scores) with the highest scores in value/usefulness and lowest in relatedness. This indicates students see the value in the course curriculum and its relation to their future careers but the social environment and peer relations in the course should be improved. Skewness quantitative calculations showed high skew for interest/enjoyment, perceived competence, and relatedness and moderate left-skew for value/usefulness subgroup categories. T-test and Mann-Whitney U-test results did not show a significant difference between mid and end of semester survey results indicating student perceptions of the course were already made by mid-semester. Pearson correlation coefficient analysis showed correlations between perceived competence and value/usefulness, interest/enjoyment, and perceived competence and interest/enjoyment and value/usefulness. These findings support current literature demonstrating higher intrinsic motivation scores lead to higher perceived learning.
Date of this Version
6-25-2023
Recommended Citation
Moreno-Rueda, David; Simonson, Kevin Michael; Richardson, Jeffrey J.; Efendy, Eddy; Webster, Rustin; and Newell, Brittany, "Analysis of student motivation in an introductory engineering technology gateway course" (2023). School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications. Paper 12.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/soetfp/12
Comments
This is the publisher PDF of Moreno Rueda, H. D., & Simonson, K. M., & Richardson, J. J., & Efendy, E., & Webster, R., & Newell, B. A. (2023, June), Analysis of Student Motivation in an Introductory Engineering Technology Gateway Course Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. https://peer.asee.org/42658
© 2023 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference.
The version of record is available at DOI: 10.18260/1-2--42658.