Fostering motivation as a class objective in a large engineering class for second-year students: a narrative approach

• Autores: Kathryn F. Trenshaw, Geoffrey L. Herman, Kerri A. Green, David E. Goldberg
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 30, no. 4, 2014, págs. 837-847
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Self Determination Theory (SDT) states that intrinsic motivation (IM) in a particular context is supported by increasing anindividual’s sense of autonomy, relatedness, and competence with respect to that context. When instructors use IM-supportivemethods, they promote learning of class content. This research seeks to describe through narratives how students’ motivationchanges in response to a pedagogy designed with fostering intrinsic motivation as a primary class objective. After being observed inthe classroom of an IM-supportive class conversion, students were interviewed to document their narratives. Interview transcriptswere coded to describe students’ motivational orientation throughout the class. The majority of interviewed students demonstratedincreases in intrinsic motivation for studying the class content. The interviews revealed that individual choice, interpersonalrelationships, and constructive failure were critical in moving students toward intrinsic motivation. While the IM-supportivelearning environment did not affect all students equally, the common themes of individual choice, interpersonal relationships, andconstructive failure provide deeper insights into how to improve and assess students’ motivational changes in technical engineeringclasses.