An assessment of student´s motivations to join College of Engineering: Case study at Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University - Saudi Arabia

Freshmen Survey is conducted on students who took early Introduction to Engineering course to assess their motivation to join engineering programs. Motivational behavior questions that are used in the survey cover job expectation, social desire, professional and personal perception, as well as scientific capabilities. The survey results were compared with the performance in the course in terms of grades the students earned to investigate whether there is high correlation between motivation and performance. Furthermore, the students evaluation that is normally conducted at the end of the course session was examined and contrasted against the survey results as well as against their grades to investigate the motivational pattern and consistency. The outcomes of this study can be used as an input for engineering educators to motivate high school students or students currently being enrolled in a preparation year to join engineering programs. Also, findings obtained in this study can be used by instructors who teach introductory course levels to engineering students to develop teaching strategy that could increase student´s motivation and confidence in math and science. Although the scope was focused on the College of Engineering, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University (PMU), the study outcomes can be extrapolated to other universities within Saudi Arabia and developing countries.