Assessing the motivational climate in a university course: Considerations for motivating all students

The motivational climate in a course can affect students’ motivation, engagement, and performance in the course. To examine if the motivational climate in a computer science course varied by gender or students’ high school experiences, we assessed motivational climate across 4 time points and compared students’ responses by gender and experience in computer science. The purpose of this article is to present the results of this mixed-methods survey study and to provide an example of how instructors can assess motivational climate to investigate potential differences among groups of students. We measured motivational climate using the MUSIC Model of Motivation Inventory, which measures five motivational climate perceptions: eMpowerment, Usefulness, Success, Interest, and Caring (MUSIC is an acronym). All of these MUSIC perceptions decreased significantly across the semester, except for interest. Empowerment and success decreased across the semester for all students. Success expectancies were significantly lower for women and for those without high school computer science experience. On average, perceptions of usefulness and caring decreased across the semester for women. These findings indicate that the course design may have had a more negative effect on women than men. The instructor could use these results to address these course perceptions in ways that foster a motivational climate that is more equitable and inclusive of all students.