Designing the Design Experience - Identifying Factors of Student Motivation in Project-Based Learning and Project-Based Service-Learning

Grounded in motivation theory, this research evaluates how the context of project-based servicelearning (PBSL) affects aspects of student motivation in a required undergraduate mechanical engineering course Component Design. Our research aims to answer: 1) How does the context of service in project-based learning affect student motivation? 2) What factors are most influential on student motivation to persist in project-based learning experiences? Component Design is a required project-based course that introduces junior mechanical engineers to fundamental machine design concepts. In spring 2011, the control group participated in a conventional project-based learning (PBL) experience – to build an aesthetically pleasing vehicle that could be powered by a cordless electric drill. In spring 2012, the treatment group participated in a PBSL experience fabricating adapted tricycles for children in the community with physical disabilities. We found that both the PBL and PBSL contexts sustained student motivation for the course and the project. Students in both cohorts began the course with relatively high values of interest, value, and expectancy for success. Students in both cohorts ended the course with relatively high values (and in some cases significant gains) of interest, value, and feelings of success in the course and the project. Students from both cohorts also reported relatively high indicators of course and project engagement. The results also indicated that for students in the PBL control group the most significant predictor of motivation was their confidence in non-technical skills while for students in the PBSL control group, the most significant predictor was initial value of the course and the project. Initial course and project interest, skill confidence, prior knowledge of course topics, and prior experience in design projects were also among the most important predictors of motivation in both project contexts. Gender was not found to be a significant predictor of any motivation indicators. Introduction We know from motivation theory that enhanced motivation in students is positively correlated with engagement, feelings of success, interest, value, and strong learning outcomes. We know less about the types of instructional strategies and curricular interventions that work to enhance student motivation in a typical engineering course. Grounded in motivation theory, the purpose of this research is to evaluate how the context of project-based service-learning (PBSL) affects student motivation in a required undergraduate mechanical engineering course. Project-Based Service-Learning PBSL is a form of active learning where students work on projects that benefit a real community or client while obtaining a rich learning experience. Many engineering educators are embracing alternative instructional strategies like PBSL in an attempt to respond to major shifts in the P ge 23382.2 2 engineering profession and practice. Today’s world is a global market and a place of rapid technological change. Newly graduated engineers often find themselves working in teams with people very different from themselves, where they must be ready to engage in more entrepreneurship and integrative thinking. 5-6 One example of incorporating PBSL into engineering curriculum is SLICE (Service-Learning Integrated throughout the College of Engineering) at University of Massachusetts Lowell, where all engineering students are exposed to service-learning in every semester. Another example is EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) at Purdue University, where students earn academic credit for participation in multidisciplinary design teams that solve technology-based problems for local non-profit organizations. Extracurricular programs like Engineers Without Borders, Engineers for a Sustainable World, and Engineering World Health provide other opportunities for engineering students to participate in service-based engineering while providing a direct benefit to a target community – most often in a developing or underdeveloped community outside the U.S. Although PBSL opportunities are expanding at educational institutions nationwide, much of the findings on their impacts are anecdotal. Some faculty have begun to assess PBSL programs and have found that PBSL does, in fact, cultivate stronger learning outcomes, entrepreneurship, cultural awareness, and community-mindedness. However, comprehensive and rigorous assessment methods have not yet been implemented. Also, given that the number of students participating in PBSL activities may be small or unrepresentative of the undergraduate engineering student population at large, it is difficult to draw conclusions that can be generalized about this promising instructional strategy. One of the main differences between PBSL and conventional project-based learning (PBL) is the addition of a community as a full partner. This added authenticity adds “real world complexity”, causing the project outcomes to be less clear. As described by Brescia, this challenges students to “use their functional skills related to technology along with their critical thinking and interpersonal skills to gain an understanding of the problems they must solve in their projects.” The integration of technical skills to dynamic environments challenges students to immediately apply and make sense of what they have learned in the classroom. This process has shown to promote four outcome areas, including: personal efficacy, awareness of the surrounding environment, personal value identification, and a greater engagement with the learning content. Motivation Theory Motivation is a theoretical construct to explain the reason or reasons we engage in a particular behavior. According to Brophy, students enter a “state” of motivation when their engagement in a particular activity is guided by the intention of acquiring the knowledge or mastering the skill that the activity is designed to teach. Motivation produces thought, intention, and action; hence, it is of paramount concern to educators, who are constantly tasked with propelling students to learn, perform, and persist. Fortunately, educators need not resign to the role of passive observers of students’ motivational patterns. In fact, educators are active socialization agents capable of stimulating the general development of students’ motivation to learn and its activation in particular situations. P ge 23382.3 3 According to self-determination theory, people at their best have an innate inclination toward mastery, spontaneous interest, exploration, and curiosity. This intrinsic motivation, which is a type of motivation characterized by doing an activity for the inherent satisfaction of the activity itself, seems to be part of human nature; however, intrinsic motivation requires supportive conditions to persist. Other motivation theories emphasize different (although related) conditions that support or thwart motivation. But, in general, supportive conditions include a person’s feelings of autonomy, relatedness, and competence, accompanied by a sense of interest and value. Student motivation to learn new information is also tied to student engagement in the learning process. Similar to motivation, the term engagement has been defined in several different ways. According to Barkley, students who are engaged in the learning process “really care about what they’re learning; they want to learn” and they “exceed expectations and go beyond what is required.” These statements reflect a view of engagement that is rooted in motivation theory. Barkley also describes student engagement with statements like “engaged students are trying to make meaning of what they are learning” and “engaged students are involved in the academic task at hand and are using higher-order thinking skills such as analyzing information or solving problems.” These statements relate engagement to active learning, which takes place when students are engaged in thinking tasks such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Students are doing things and thinking about what they are doing. Active learning can be facilitated by collaborative learning, undergraduate research, and problem-based learning activities, among other techniques. Essentially, student engagement is a product of motivation and active learning. The contexts of project-based learning and project-based service-learning fulfill the active learning portion of this relationship. However, before we can determine whether PBSL has an impact on student engagement, we must evaluate the extent to which PBSL affects student motivation to learn. Research Need As stated by Bielefeldt and Swan: "There is some indication that PBSL programs can help attract and retain a more diverse population of students in engineering. The popularity of these experiences with women and minorities is clear, but it is unclear if this leads to any overall benefits to recruiting or retention in engineering. There is virtually no quantitative assessment of the benefits of PBSL experiences to professional trajectory. It is not fully clear if companies view this as a way to attract and retain qualified engineers, value the unique skills developed in engineers with these experiences, etc. Therefore, the impacts in this area require further study." Hence, while there is evidence to support some of the benefits of PBSL, more rigorous research should be completed with control and treatment groups to elucidate some of the claims regarding its impacts. By more clearly understanding how PBSL impacts student motivation and engagement, practitioners can design more thoughtful project experiences. Lastly, from a research perspective, being able to identify factors of student motivation is useful in assessing project-based curriculum.