Abstract

Academic success is a difficult task that often involves struggles, mistakes and it requires effort and engagement on the part of students. As the literature is vast and complex, the focus on motivation of this work will be intended to inform teaching practice. Design pedagogy is also affected by these aspects, that can influence student success, mastery and autonomy. Although the theme deserves attention, there aren’t many research reports on the impact of those factors in design teaching and learning. This work is a qualitative study based on subjective evaluation of specific aspects of academic motivation science regarding learning. 21 professors of design courses and 49 design students answered a survey containing 12 questions regarding 3 themes: the development of self-determination basic characteristics; the utilization of grades, rewards and praise; and seven statements regarding rewards and praise to ensure motivation were presented to collect subjective perceptions. The results show that students have a much more positive perception of self-developed skills regarding self-determination elements than when compared to their colleagues. A finding is related to the different perception of subjects about the utilization of praise. The discrepancy can be a symptom of instructional problems, lack of information by educational professionals or even indicates a poor communication channel in the classroom. Another finding refers to the two groups’ opposite views regarding three statements on the usage of rewards and praise for motivation. Apparently, professors utilize grades vastly, which is a clear opposition to the best practices signalized by scientists on the field. Students, also, don’t seem to understand that used praise were sincere and deserved, which could be a lack of trust indicative. Finally, although professors seem to agree that the emphasis of praise and rewards are associated to process and effort, students tend to feel that skill was the key point.

Keywords

motivation, design education, perception, self-determination, praise

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

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Jul 9th, 12:00 AM

Motivation intended to inform design teaching practice

Academic success is a difficult task that often involves struggles, mistakes and it requires effort and engagement on the part of students. As the literature is vast and complex, the focus on motivation of this work will be intended to inform teaching practice. Design pedagogy is also affected by these aspects, that can influence student success, mastery and autonomy. Although the theme deserves attention, there aren’t many research reports on the impact of those factors in design teaching and learning. This work is a qualitative study based on subjective evaluation of specific aspects of academic motivation science regarding learning. 21 professors of design courses and 49 design students answered a survey containing 12 questions regarding 3 themes: the development of self-determination basic characteristics; the utilization of grades, rewards and praise; and seven statements regarding rewards and praise to ensure motivation were presented to collect subjective perceptions. The results show that students have a much more positive perception of self-developed skills regarding self-determination elements than when compared to their colleagues. A finding is related to the different perception of subjects about the utilization of praise. The discrepancy can be a symptom of instructional problems, lack of information by educational professionals or even indicates a poor communication channel in the classroom. Another finding refers to the two groups’ opposite views regarding three statements on the usage of rewards and praise for motivation. Apparently, professors utilize grades vastly, which is a clear opposition to the best practices signalized by scientists on the field. Students, also, don’t seem to understand that used praise were sincere and deserved, which could be a lack of trust indicative. Finally, although professors seem to agree that the emphasis of praise and rewards are associated to process and effort, students tend to feel that skill was the key point.

 

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