Work in Progress: The Impacts of Scholarships on Engineering Students’ Motivation
- Conference
- Location
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Tampa, Florida
- Publication Date
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June 15, 2019
- Start Date
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June 15, 2019
- End Date
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June 19, 2019
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Educational Research and Methods
- Tagged Topic
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Diversity
- Page Count
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6
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--33654
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/33654
- Download Count
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983
Paper Authors
Emily Bovee
Michigan State University
orcid.org/0000-0002-1996-6337
Emily A. Bovee is a doctoral candidate in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology at Michigan State University. Her current research is focused on understanding and supporting college student success, particularly in engineering disciplines.
Amalia Krystal Lira Michigan State University
Amalia (Krystal) Lira is a doctoral student in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology at Michigan State University. She is interested in addressing STEM attrition among underrepresented racial and ethnic minority students using motivational frameworks.
Harrison Douglas Lawson
Michigan State University
orcid.org/0000-0002-0946-2354
I completed my undergraduate Chemical Engineering degree at the University of Pittsburgh. I am currently a graduate student at Michigan State University pursuing a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. My research is biology and education focused. After graduating, I aspire to continue working with education programs and join a university as teaching faculty.
Daina Briedis Michigan State University
DAINA BRIEDIS is a faculty member in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at Michigan State University and Assistant Dean for Student Advancement and Program Assessment in the College of Engineering. Dr. Briedis is involved in research in the study of motivation in engineering students. She has been involved in NSF-funded research in the areas of integration of computation in engineering curricula and in developing comprehensive strategies to retain early engineering students. She is active nationally and internationally in engineering accreditation and is a Fellow of ABET, ASEE, and the AIChE.
Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia Michigan State University
Dr. Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia is a professor of Educational Psychology in the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education at Michigan State University. She received her Ph.D. in Education and Psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research focuses on the development of achievement motivation in educational settings and the interplay among motivation, emotions, and learning, especially in STEM fields.
S. Patrick Walton Michigan State University
S. Patrick Walton received his B.ChE. from Georgia Tech, where he began his biomedical research career in the Cardiovascular Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. He then attended MIT where he earned his M.S. and Sc.D. while working jointly with researchers at the Shriners Burns Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. While at MIT, he was awarded a Shell Foundation Fellowship and was an NIH biotechnology Predoctoral Trainee. Upon completion of his doctoral studies, he joined the Stanford University Genome Technology Center, receiving an NIH Kirschstein post-doctoral fellowship. He joined Michigan State University in 2004 and his research is focused on the development of parallel analytical methods and the engineering of active nucleic acids (e.g., siRNAs) through mechanism-based design. He has been recognized for his accomplishments in both teaching and research, receiving the MSU Teacher-Scholar award, the College of Engineering Withrow Teaching Excellence Award, and being named an MSU Lilly Teaching Fellow.
Abstract
WIP: The Impacts of Scholarships on Engineering Students’ Motivation
This work in progress paper will describe our initial efforts in examining how receiving a scholarship influences engineering students’ motivation. A student’s persistence and success in engineering depends on multiple academic, institutional, and personal factors. That said, no student can persist to graduation if they cannot pay their tuition. As such, financial need and socioeconomic status are a significant factors in determining the likelihood of a student graduating from an engineering program. Moreover, average student loan debt is increasing nationally, with engineering students often required to pay premium tuition, potentially leading to greater debt loads. A variety of programs, including federally-funded programs such as the NSF Scholarships in STEM (S-STEM) program, have sought to address these issues by providing scholarships to offset student expenses.
We hypothesize that the impacts of receiving a scholarship on the scholarship recipient may, however, go beyond simply alleviating financial stress or displacing the need to work or take out student loans. Indeed, we posit that by considering students’ motivation as measured at multiple intervals throughout college, researchers may be able to describe more fully the relation between scholarship receipt and persistence to graduation. Such an understanding would be beneficial for both faculty who work with engineering students and administrators who seek to support them. In this work, we are applying quantitative methods to assess the impacts of scholarships on the motivation of engineering students at a large, research-intensive university in the Midwest. Our research is examining three research questions:
RQ1) How do motivational characteristics (e.g., self-efficacy, interest in engineering) differ when comparing scholarship recipients and non-recipients? RQ2) Among scholarship recipients, what are the impacts of scholarship receipt on motivation? RQ3) What are the mechanisms by which scholarships influence students’ motivation?
Our approach will combine longitudinal data from biannual surveys of engineering students with registrar and financial aid data. With a sample size of 6,366 students, we anticipate being able to further classify students based on their anticipated financial need (High, Medium, Low, No), as determined by the financial aid office. In doing so, we hope to preliminarily assess whether the impacts of scholarships are different for merit-based awards (more likely among Low and No need students) and need-based awards (more likely among High and Medium need students). The current study will thus inform future programmatic and financial initiatives to support engineering student motivation and success.
Bovee, E., & Lira, A. K., & Lawson, H. D., & Briedis, D., & Linnenbrink-Garcia, L., & Walton, S. P. (2019, June), Work in Progress: The Impacts of Scholarships on Engineering Students’ Motivation Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--33654
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