Quantitative assessment of student motivation to characterize differences between engineering majors

Student motivation is often undervalued in comparison to academic performance measures for evaluating changes in higher education. There is a need to consider the affective domain in reform, in addition to academic performance. The effect of student motivation toward short- and long-term goals on student actions is not well understood. To assess this need, two research questions are addressed: 1) What elements of a motivation instrument designed for first-year engineering students are valid for upper-level engineering students? 2) How do motivations differ for upper level students in different engineering majors? Students in their major-specific engineering courses were surveyed with the Motivation and Attitudes in Engineering (MAE) instrument, which assesses long-term goal related expectancy, and perceptions of present and future tasks/goals. Short-term task self-efficacy was assessed using items adapted from the Attitudes and Approaches to Problem Solving survey. Results based on comparisons between major, class, and grade point average (GPA) showed: 1) Higher GPA indicates significantly higher expectancies and self-efficacy; 2) Bioengineers have significantly higher expectancies than mechanical engineers; and 3) Juniors have significantly higher GPAs, expectancies, and more positive perceptions of the present than sophomores. Results indicate that students´ motivations toward short- and long-term goals may influence actions toward learning.