Abstract:

Academic motivation plays a primary role in education in general and in STEM disciplines, i.e., science, technology, engineering and mathematics, in particular. Its importance is further validated in view of the severe shortage of engineers in the Western world. Thus, the aim of the study was to characterize the motivational factors driving high-school students to study science and engineering. Self-determination theory served as the theoretical framework for this study. The research, which used quantitative instruments, involved 28 Israeli twelve graders majoring in STEM disciplines. During the school year, students filled out an anonymous closed-ended questionnaire, designed to classify the motivational factors driving them to study science and engineering. This five-point Likert-like questionnaire, ranging from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree", was based on the Self-Regulation Questionnaire – Academic (SRQ–A) scale. It was comprised of twenty statements expressing the four main motivational factors, namely intrinsic motivation (arises from the interest and pleasure associated with the behavior), identified regulation (originates from the recognition of a value inherent to the behavior), introjected regulation (stems from the desire to fulfill expectations of people who are important to the person) and external regulation (originates from the wish to receive rewards for the behavior). The statements were validated by two experts in science and engineering education, and Cronbach's alphas indicated good internal consistency. The data were statistically analyzed, and Pearson correlation matrix was calculated. According to the findings, students were driven primarily by intrinsic motivation and identified regulation, and to a much lesser extent by introjected regulation and external regulation. A significant moderate negative correlation was found between intrinsic motivation and external regulation. In addition, a significant high positive correlation was found between external regulation and introjected regulation and a low positive correlation between intrinsic motivation and identified regulation. These findings are congruent with self-determination theory. The study contribution is validated in light of the lingering lack of engineers and the major role academic motivation fulfills in attracting candidates to undergraduate engineering programs.

Keywords:

Motivation, high-school students, STEM education, self-determination theory.