Board 125: Providing Student Feedback from Motivation Assessments in Capstone Courses

Student motivation in capstone design courses is assessed in six capstone project courses at six diverse institutions in the 2017-2018 academic year. This assessment follows a similar assessment study at a large public university in six unique capstone courses. Reliability and validity analysis during the first year contributed to upgrades to the assessment tools currently being implemented. Qualitative feedback from student and faculty participants indicated a strong desire by students to receive feedback about their motivation and by faculty to learn more about the motivation levels of their students. This poster paper focuses on the analysis and presentation of meaningful assessment results to students. The developed assessment surveys measure both students’ motivational attitudes (self-assessed) and behaviors (selfand peer-assessed). Attitude and behavior assessments are administered at an early stage of the project. The assessments provide formative feedback that guides student motivational development. Attitudes assessment identifies students’ self-identification with twenty attitudes related to their capstone experience. Responses identify and rate the level that students’ motivations are influenced by achievements, experiences, project, and tangible rewards. Feedback to students includes a summary of their indicated attitudes and their tendency toward intrinsic, extrinsic or a combination of both types of motivations. The second assessment measures students’ motivation behaviors along with peer evaluation of these same behaviors. The peer evaluation also includes a suggestion for behavior improvement in one of the five behavioral areas: work quality and quantity, level of supervision, team effectiveness, initiative, and self-development. Each student receives a report with their scores, average peer scores, and a compilation of peers’ suggestions for improvement. The paper describes data analysis and feedback to students at the early stage of the capstone project. It also provides sample feedback reports that illustrate the potential value to be gained by students. This poster presentation facilitates discussions about motivation assessment and reporting in capstone project courses.