This engineering education research project seeks to support and increase student motivation by understanding situational motivation in the engineering classroom, and providing rapid feedback to instructors in order to allow them to impact student motivation. The proposed study will explore situational motivation and seek to develop new ways to analyze data obtained in the classroom to track and understand motivation.
The broader significance and importance of this project is that by understanding student motivation and collecting data rapidly, it may be possible to develop feedback tools for engineering instructors to make students more motivated. The differential impact of various motivational strategies for groups under-represented in engineering may impact retention and persistence. This project overlaps with NSF's strategic goals of transforming the frontiers through preparation of an engineering workforce with new capabilities and expertise. Additionally NSF's goal of innovating for society is enabled by creating results and research that are useful for society by informing educational policy and practices.
