Understanding Students' Motivation-Related Experiences in Different Learning Environments of Summer Engineering Courses

This full research paper describes a qualitative investigation into the differences in student experiences in in-person and online summer engineering courses at an R1 institution in the U.S. Southeast. We investigated underlying factors influencing students' motivation-related experiences in in-person and online course formats in summer engineering courses through the lens of the MUSIC® Model of Motivation. We conducted 10 interviews with undergraduate students in online and in-person summer courses regarding their motivation-related experiences. Preliminary results identified prominent differences in the factors impacting student motivation in differing course formats. Across all courses, factors related to students' sense of agency, access to resources for success, and instructor empathy were most frequently identified as essential for positive student experiences. Particularly, having access to peers and the instructor, instructor caring, and a sense of agency over the learning process contributed positively to student experiences across nearly all flipped format courses. While the absence of these factors contributed negatively to student experiences in most online and in-person lecture-based courses, such outcomes were not uniform, and insights from students with positive online course experiences point to actionable tools and techniques instructors can use to create more universally positive online education experiences. Taken together, these results highlight areas of improvement for future course designs of online and lecture-based summer engineering courses to contribute to positive student experiences more consistently.