An empirical investigation of student's motivation towards learning quantitative courses

• Autores: Sonali Singh, Richa Misra, Shalini Srivastava
• Localización: The international journal of management education, ISSN 1472-8117, Vol. 15, Nº. 2, 2017, págs. 47-59
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Purpose In today's data driven economies, the organizations are collecting data from different touch points. However, only a minimal percentage of this data is utilized for effective decision making. The organizations are facing a dearth of skilled professionals who can understand and analyze the huge big-data and convert it into meaningful information. A manager, by using quantitative techniques can change a complicated problem into a manageable one. Keeping this perspective in mind, the curriculum of management studies is designed in order to inculcate and strengthen the analytical skills of the students. The main objective for conducting this study is to gauge the factors responsible for motivating the students to perform in quantitative subjects (Statistics and Research Methods). The study also intends to explore the impact of identified factors on students' motivation towards learning quantitative courses.

    Research design This research is descriptive in nature. The data has been collected from various private Institutes and Universities of India. The empirical study is done through thirty-eight item questionnaire to measure the factors that motivates the student to learn quantitative subjects and inhibit their understanding of quantitative courses. All the students (respondents) have undergone courses on Business Statistics and Research Methods. Convenience sampling is used for collecting data.

    Findings In order to validate the proposed framework statistical techniques like descriptive analysis, factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were used. The result indicates that motivation towards learning of quantitative subjects has a strong relationship with learning value, attitude, learning environment and achievement goals. The study revealed that motivation for learning quantitative subjects has positive and significant relationship with learning value, attitude and learning environment. However, the fourth construct achievement goals has no significant relationship with motivation towards learning quantitative subjects.

    Managerial implications This study is of immense importance for the business schools and universities which could help in addressing the reasons for low inclination towards learning of quantitative subjects, despite growing importance of information based decision making in the corporate world. Although the screening tests like CAT, MAT, XAT etc. have the component of mathematical skills and data analytics, business schools should also assess necessary quantitative ability and skills of the students at the time of admission. Pedagogy and enabling learning environment enhances the learning of quantitative subjects by students