Seminars

Demystifying Motivation: Examining Undergraduate Students’ Situational Motivational Responses in Engineering Classrooms

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Dr. Jonathan D. Stolk

Abstract

We set extremely high goals for our engineering students. We expect today’s graduates to master a broad spectrum of knowledge; demonstrate skills in multidisciplinary teamwork, analysis, communication, economics, and systems thinking; and be innovative and contextually aware global citizens and lifelong learners. Students will not develop these high level capacities without a strong motivation to learn. Since motivations are related to educational outcomes ranging from critical thinking to creativity to self-regulated learning, helping students develop positive motivational orientations is critical for the engagement and success of tomorrow’s engineers. Unfortunately, relatively little is known about the type of motivations that engineering students adopt in classroom settings, and how these motivations change over time in response to different learning activities and contexts. As a result, instructors face an enormous challenge in designing curricula that support the autonomous motivations known to be associated with intrinsic interest, enjoyment, persistence, and learning performance.

This seminar is aimed at demystifying student motivation in the engineering classroom by providing a more nuanced view of motivation that extends beyond the labeling of students as “motivated” or “unmotivated.” Leveraging self-determination and self-regulated learning theory, we examine engineering students’ motivational responses in technical courses that employ both traditional and non-traditional pedagogies. Using variable-based and group- based clustering analyses, we characterize the dynamic situational motivational responses of students in project-based courses, and provide insights into the temporal stability of student motivations in these open-ended learning environments. Using qualitative student interview data, we explain how cognitive, social, and environmental factors may influence students’ motivational orientations and motivational shifts. Finally, we highlight specific course activities and contexts that serve to promote the adoption of intrinsic motivation, and that may help instructors make strategic curriculum design choices to better address the motivational needs of their students.

Speaker Biography

Jonathan Stolk joined Olin College in 2001 from Bucknell University, where he served as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering. Dr. Stolk holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in materials science and engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Dr. Stolk is passionate about learning, and is excited to be a part of the Olin College environment, where there are always new paths to explore and new connections to make. He believes that each Olin student holds enormous potential for both personal growth and positive impact on our world, and he aspires to design learning experiences that foster students’ creative capacities and that encourage students’ development as unique, self-directing, and self-confident learners. Dr. Stolk's current research focuses on understanding the role of faculty in promoting lifelong learning, examining educational change processes in college settings, and investigating the effects of disciplinary integration and student autonomy on motivation and a broad range of learning outcomes. Stolk is currently involved in several NSF-supported collaborative research projects in STEM education, and he is actively engaged in helping faculty create innovative student experiences.