Capstone Design Faculty Motivation: Motivational Factors for Teaching the Capstone Design Course and Motivational Influences on Teaching Approaches

What motivates the design educator during course planning and implementation? What are the faculty motivational influences at play in the capstone design course? Are there existing motivational constructs that can be applied to design education? In this study, interviews with engineering design faculty members were analyzed to explore if and how subjective task value constructs – attainment values, intrinsic values, utility values, and relative cost – can be applied to design faculty motivation to implement (or avoid) certain pedagogies during the capstone design course. This study broadens the use of expectancy-value theory and establishes its potential for use in design education motivation research. The findings represent a starting point in the discussion of motivation in design education as it pertains to capstone design faculty.