Abstract:

Among many other factors, spontaneous motivation plays an important role in upgrading learning outcomes in any given field. Students’ motivation in higher education, for instance, has been examined in varied areas such as language learning, content-based courses, and others. However, studies focusing on university students’ motivation to succeed in remote international collaborative projects are limited. Therefore, further examination is needed to reveal what factors affect students’ motivation and how they can enhance their collaborative learning online by sustaining their motivation during engagement in these activities, both on-campus and off-campus.

The present study focused on two selected international collaborative activities offered as either intra-curricular or extra-curricular activities. These activities provide an excellent opportunity for university students to broaden their knowledge and to practice various skills they have acquired through their university education.

We focused on two international student conferences, hosted in Japan and Taiwan, and collected data from the participants. The main research objective was to determine the factors that affect student motivation while participating in online international collaborative projects and what factors influence them to maintain their motivation to succeed in their projects. Both quantitative and qualitative data were obtained.

The analysis confirmed that students' project engagement had initially been affected more by personal motivation like building rapport than achieving academic skills. The survey results also indicated that students expect the instructors’ guidance on how to keep up their motivation throughout the project.

This study concludes that students’ motivation to promote online international collaboration varies, and depends on personal, cultural, and academic factors, and that the instructors’ support is essential for sustaining their motivation.

Keywords:

International academic exchange, motivational factors, academic and cultural learning outcomes, instructors’ roles.