The motivation to study: An analysis of the factors that motivate undergraduate engineering students (original) (raw)
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The motivation to study: an analysis of undergraduate engineering students at a Caribbean university
Journal of Further and Higher Education, 2016
The link between motivation and success is well documented; however, there is still room to problematise motivation in regards to the individual and contextual levels. This study looks at motivation in relation to students studying undergraduate engineering courses at a The University of the West Indies, St Augustine and seeks to discover the factors that motivate them to study and the factors that keep them motivated. An online questionnaire was constructed using 19 Likert-type questions and five questions that allowed for open-ended qualitative responses. The findings reveal that participants tended to be motivated by the increased possibility of desired future careers and tended to stay motivated by a combination of goal-orientation and family support. It is recommended that departments, faculties and institutions deliberate on shared and contextually constructed understandings of why students choose to enrol in particular university courses.
What makes students enroll in engineering: A case study
2010
Recently, Engineering programs in the Middle East have witnessed a remarkable increase in students' enrollment. To investigate the motives behind such increase, three universities in Lebanon were targeted as a case study. A Likert-scaled survey measuring different types of influences and motives was completed by (n=387) undergraduate engineering students. The results showed that the genuine interest in the field was the main influence affecting the students' own decision. Also, the study examined various intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors through four categories: personal growth, professional growth, social growth, and financial growth. The descriptive statistics of the measured items showed the professional growth including job satisfaction that improves the level of students' creativity in a challenging environment was the leading motivator for choosing engineering. The analysis discusses the identical importance for intrinsic and extrinsic factors which suggest the students' need for a balance between intrinsic and extrinsic driven prospects for a life time profession.
Elements of Motivational Structure for Studying Mechanical Engineering
IAFOR Journal of Education, 2017
The article presents the findings on students' reasons for studying mechanical engineering. These reasons were covered in terms of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation additionally related to selected independent variables of the sample – students' secondary school Grade Point Average, their gender and the socio-economic status. The research was conducted with the first year students of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Zagreb, Croatia. The sample consisted of 282 students (228 males and 54 females) and comprised students of all majors. According to descriptive character of the questionnaire type survey characteristics of the sample are presented. Composite variables of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation were dichotomized to present different levels of the students' overall motivational structure. Results indicate a students' interest in the field of science and technology as the most important element of intrinsic motivation, with no significant relation to any of independent variables. By contrast, extrinsic motivation has manifested as significantly related to the variables of Grade Point Average and to parents' education as one component of the socio-economic status. However, a significant level of indecisive respondents regarding the both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation suggests that the choice of the study programme is not always a consistent and an unambiguous process.
2021
Motivation to study engineering in undergraduate study is of great importance to students. It encourages undergraduate students to enroll in an engineering program and continue their studies without dropping out. Male students enroll in engineering programs with large numbers compared to female students in many parts of the world. In Saudi Arabia, there were limited engineering programs for female students. In this research, the motivation to study engineering is studied and compared between male and female students in the College of Engineering at Prince Sultan University, the first private university in Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted through a detailed survey distributed to 41 male engineering management students and 45 female architectural engineering students. These students’ performance and experience were considered and compared considering their gender to evaluate their persistence toward engineering study. According to the results obtained, the highest degree of the p...
What does" motivation" really mean? An example from a current engineering education research
Research in engineering …, 2009
Motivation is a popular research construct in engineering education but it is not always clear what is meant by "motivation". The current engineering education literature surrounding motivation is largely exploratory or without a theoretical framework. This paper highlights the potential value of motivational frameworks in engineering education research in two ways. First, this paper introduces the rich history of theoretically grounded motivational research within the field of educational psychology and draws connections to potential research areas within engineering education. Second, this paper provides a practical example illustrating how one particular theoretical framework of achievement motivation, Eccles' expectancy-value theory, informed the design and data analysis of a study related to persistence. The qualitative, longitudinal study examined ten engineering students' perceptions of themselves as future engineers, their achievement-motivation beliefs in pursuing engineering, and how these perceptions and beliefs changed from the first to the fourth year of college.
2015 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON), 2015
Motivation is a critical factor in the academic performance, especially in the EHEA context, where the active learning must be promoted. In the case of engineering education, it is particularly necessary to care the student motivation by several reasons. The difficulty of engineering degrees can hinder the motivation ofstudents and it can affect the high levéis of absenteeism and dropping out. Thus, it is important to work up frameworks to evalúate and enhance, in addition to technical competences, other competences such as motivation. This paper presents the definition of a motivational framework composed by several instruments, resources, mechanisms and technologies. It allows teachers and academic institutions to evalúate and enhance the motivation oftheir students. But the most innovative characteristic of the framework lies in the student side; it also allows students to self-evaluate and enhance their motivation by performing questionnaires, recommendations and complementary training activities. In order to valídate the proposed solutions, a case study has been successfully performed with 152 students ofthe Technical University of Madrid. The empirical experience has enabled to confirm the usefulness ofthe provided framework and to explore motivational aspects related with the engineering education.
The Structure of Motivation for Mechanical Engineering Study at University of Zagreb
The paper aims to explore freshmens' reasons to study mechanical engineering at University of Zagreb. These reasons are framed mostly in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. In addition, the paper examines elements of motivational structure with respect to the selected independent variables of the sample. The obtained results indicate relative significance of some independent variables and slightly more pronounced importance of intrinsic motivation. Proceedings of TEAM 2015 - 7th International Scientific and Expert Conference of the International TEAM Society (p. 131-136)
An Examination of Indicators of Engineering Students' Success and Persistence
Journal of Engineering Education, 2005
Student success and persistence within the major and university were examined through hierarchical linear and logistic regression analyses for two cohorts of engineering students. Indicators of success and persistence were based on theoretical and empirical evidence and included both cognitive and noncognitive variables. Cognitive variables included high school rank, SAT scores, and university cumulative grade point average. Noncognitive factors included academic motivation and institutional integration. Outcome variables included grade point average, enrollment at the university, and status as an engineering major. Gender differences also were evaluated. Several significant relationships among the variables were found. For instance, increased levels of motivation were significantly related to continuing in the major. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
What Motivates Engineering Students? A Study in Taiwan
International Journal of Engineering Education
This study investigates the factors motivating learning among engineering students. A questionnaire based research framework that addresses the learning motivating factors and their links to students' motivation was employed. Statistical analyses are applied to investigate the factors that motivate engineering students to learn. The findings provide insight into the development of teaching inventories for engineering students. To enable students to learn effectively, a supportive setting with enabling factors and a cooperative learning environment is appreciated. Based on the study of the motivating factors and their impact on the learning motivation of engineering students, suggestions are made as to what can be developed to promote students' motivation. ��� �� ���� � �� ��� ����������� �� ����� � ����� ��� ������� �� ��� ������� ��� ��� �� �� ����� �������� �� ��� ���� � ����������� �� ����� � ���(�� �� ����� � ����� � ���� ���� � � �� ��� � ������� !��� ���(���� ��� �� ��...
Reasons stated by commencing students for studying engineering and technology
2012
Responses were collected from commencing engineering students and an inventory of reasons stated for electing to study engineering was developed. Commencing engineering students were strongly career oriented; they believed that engineering would be an interesting and rewarding career that would offer enjoyment and career options. No difference was found in the principal reasons stated by respondents based on gender or course of study.