Literature Review #2

(1) Visual:
  One of the authors: Matthew Planchard.


(2) Citation:
Planchard, Matthew, Daniel, Kristy L., Maroo, Jill, Mishra, Chandrani, and McLean, Tim. "Homework, Motivation, and Academic Achievement in a College Genetics Course." Journal of College Biology Teaching. 41.2 (2015):11-18. Web.


(3) Summary:
This study is based off research pertaining to the relationship between student motivation, homework completion, and academic achievement at the college level. They found that there is a positive correlation between motivation and academic achievement. They also provide suggestions on how to increase a students motivation.

(4) Main Author:
Matthew Planchard is currently a software developer who focuses on the hard sciences; However, his background comes from the researching field. He worked as a research assistant during his stay at the University of Souther Mississippi, which gives him some qualification to do work regarding my study.


(5) Key terms:

Academic Achievement- the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their educational goals.

Motivating Factors- drivers of human behavior related to the intrinsic nature of the work, but not necessarily to the surrounding circumstances or environment. 


(6) Quotes:

1. "In their study, a student who comes to a university with the desire and motivation to learn is more likely to seek out and find positive academic experiences, triggering positive feedback loops between the student and the instructor or institution" (12).

2. "We compared student reported motivation with actual performance in terms of Problem Pack and homework completion, using a t-test to determine if there was a significant relationship between credit, extra credit, or reinforcement motivating factor and completion of the related assignment type" (14).

3. "However, we found discrepancies between students’ reported motivation and actual completion rates. Students were pragmatic in practice given that they were more likely to attempt assignments that directly impacted their grade. It is more likely that most students are motivated by a combination of factors" (16).


(7) Value: 
This material will help me explore my research question because it is a direct study of the effect motivation has on students and their academic achievement. It also talks about what motivates students, and how to increase the levels of motivation in a student. 

Literature Review Blog #1

1.  Authors: Chan, Hsun-Yu; Wang, Xueli

2. Citation:
Chan, Hsun-yu, Wang, Xueli. “Interact for What? The Relationship between Interpersonal Interaction Based on Motivation and Educational Outcomes among Students in Manufacturing Programs at Two-Year Technical Colleges.” Community College Review. 44.1 (2016): 26-48. Web.

3.Summary: This reading talks about a study performed to observe the interactions of differently motivated students entering manufacturing programs at different public two-year technical colleges. The study found that these interactions can be grouped into three different categories, depending on the different underlying motivations. Towards the end, they also use their findings and give the information to the schools they studied from, giving them pointers on how to improve their learning environment.

4. Authors: Xueli Wang has a masters degree on Higher Education and Student Affairs from OSU. She studies college students' pathways and success, with a particular focus on community colleges and undergraduate STEM education. Hsun-Yu Chan received his masters degree in the Department of Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin. His research interest includes peer relation, peer influence, and parent-child conversation. Hsun-yu also works in an NSF-funded project focusing on improving technical college student learning and academic success. The fact that both these authors have masters on topics regarding education and students shows me that they are knowledgeable on my topic.

5. Key terms:

Interpersonal Interaction - "a communication process that involves the exchange of information, feelings and meaning by means of verbal and non-verbal messages, between two or more persons."

Manufacturing Programs - have "distinctive and rich curricular environments and contexts that serve as an optimal venue for exploring interaction among students (e.g., through both individual and group projects) and between students and faculty (e.g., through workshops) in more diverse ways as opposed to in other programs such as liberal arts transfer programs." 

6. Quotes:
- "To address this gap in the literature, the present study explored different forms of interaction based on motivation among two-year college students in manufacturing programs, and how these different forms of interaction are associated with academic achievement (i.e., grade point average [GPA]) and retention/graduation."
- "They surveyed four-year college students on the reasons for engaging in interaction with faculty (i.e., SFI), and the results from factor analysis revealed five major motivations: relational, functional, excuse, participating, and sycophancy. While the relational and sycophantic motives are relationship-oriented, the other three motives are linked to cognitive learning."
- "...we argue that individuals' motivation for interaction represents a more accurate approach to understanding interaction and its potential link to future educational outcomes. Furthermore, we argue that motivation is a latent drive that propels individuals to engage in certain behaviors to meet their needs, similar to Pintrich's (1999, 2004) conceptualization that motivational belief informs self-regulatory learning strategies."

7. Value: This material will help me explore my research question because not only does it talk about motivation and perform a study surrounding the topic, it also references many other researchers and their studies relating to my topic. Even if the information does not perfectly end up fitting in with my paper, I will have access to many other studies as a result of this scholarly article. 

Research Blog #3

                Although I have not thought much about it, the issue of Privatization has a pretty direct connection to my topic. According to one of the readings called “Higher Education and Privatization,” Privatization is defined as the "movement away from public financing and toward private financing." Like I talked about in my Analytic essay, this change caused a lot of problems for students, two major ones being stress and financial debt. My topic focuses on the motivation of students in College, and I am going to be researching a lot of different sub-topics like how motivation depends on the major a student chooses or how motivation differs between minorities and other students; but, one connection I thought up was that the emergence of Privatization has most likely boosted the motivation of a lot of students going to college today. The fact that most students or their parents have to pay money out of their pockets for a college education means that students are less likely to take their education for granted. They will focus more and be more motivated because it's their money on the line; no one likes wasting money. The debt created by privatization also has to be a booster for student motivation, seeing as that debt can ruin someones life, as shown in The Student Loan Documentary. College students now feel as though they must do good academically in order to get a good job once they graduate so they can pay off their loans.

Scouting my topic

          After reading Professor Goeller's comments on my previous post, I decided to take on his suggestion about refining my focus when it came to motivation in college students. I'm going to begin my research using the following question: How does major choice affect academic motivation? Basing my research on this question will help give me some direction in my research paper, and I'm genuinely interested in how motivation is affected depending on a student's major. While searching online, the key terms I found most useful were college, motivation, and major choice. I found a few articles, a few blogs, and to my surprise, a lot of "edu" websites regarding the topic. I found one article ("Determinants influencing college major choice and their relationship to self-determined motivation, achievement, and satisfaction") specifically talking about my research question which I'm sure is going to be one of my sources. Other potential sources are: a book recommended to me by Professor Goeller called "Drive" by Daniel Pink and a scholarly article called "Motivation for Major Choice in Relation to College Major Satisfaction." I did not have much success in the news, scholar, or book sections of google other than these sources; but, there seemed to be a lot more in the normal google search. Some other ideas that came to me as a result of this search were how motivation affects a students academics, the difference in motivation depending on whether a student is a minority or not, and the link between major choice and satisfaction.

             

Two of the links I found which I think are going to be useful for my paper are the following:

• https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/11637

• http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_college_student_development/v046/46.3dennis.html

These links lead to scholarly articles which I think will be very useful starting points for my research. The first one directly talks about my question, "How does major choice affect academic motivation?" and the second one potentially has some new ideas I can cover. For example, the second article brings up how motivation affects academic success, which seems like another great research topic. To finish up this blog, I could not really find any controversy or differing viewpoints on my topic just yet; but personally, I think that students who choose a major solely for the potential money they could be making will have lower motivation than students who choose a major they are genuinely interested in. Although this might seem obvious, there is no telling what I could potentially find while researching this topic.

Research brainstorm

For my research topic, I'm thinking of writing about what motivates students in College. Why do some students excel in their academics while others don't? Why do some students choose to prioritize partying and drugs over their grades? What methods must be taken to motivate a student? Personally, I think many students come to college with a specific level of motivation or dedication that they have developed throughout their lives; but, I feel as though the environment of college allows some of this previous motivation to either grow or shrink. The fact that students have some independence and are around others who are the same age takes a part in this as well without a doubt.