Enhancing Student motivation : "raise the bar"

• The quest for enhancing student motivation, commitment and performance in higher education is anever-present struggle for university teachers. Of course, the hunt for a good grade is something that isvery central for students, but as a teacher you would like to reach further and find a deeper, morepersonal motivation within each student. A hypothesis that was investigated was that students willaccept high demands if they are clearly defined and presented directly in the beginning instead ofbeing introduced gradually during the course. In the present course, a team of six teachers was puttogether in order to be able to handle the students’ need for coaching and support. The course includedmultiple sub-deadlines concluded by status presentations, called Design Reviews, where the groupsupdated the teaching team and other groups on the project’s progress. The Design Reviews includedboth an oral presentation of five minutes and a written memorandum, called PM. Each student wasresponsible for one oral presentation and one PM. Examination of the course was based on the finalproject result as well as on performance during the Design Reviews. The conclusions from thisapproach are that the general motivation was increased. The project results were very good andincluded several innovative solutions. Student reaction to the high demands was positive but teachercoaching is a very important factor for keeping this on a manageable and stimulating level for thestudents and preventing it from being an oppressive stress factor.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Annan teknik -- Övrig annan teknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Other Engineering and Technologies -- Other Engineering and Technologies not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Industrial Design

Industriell design

Produktinnovation

Product Innovation

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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