Building Bridges to Engineering Interest: Instructor Inputs and Situational Interest in Online Engineering Classes

• In Event: Motivation in the Classroom: Teacher and Classroom Inputs and Motivational Outcomes

Abstract

Development of subject matter interest is an important motivator for long term student learning. Fortunately, what teachers do in the learning environment can have an impact on interest. This study was an investigation of how instructor inputs in engineering courses taught online connected with perceptions of instructor relatedness and situational interest. The frameworks of teacher presence and immediacy were used to develop a survey administered to 141 undergraduate engineering students, capturing their perceptions of social relatedness and situational interest. Results indicated that teacher presence online, but not immediacy behaviors, was predictive of student-perceived instructor relatedness and situational interest. Findings suggest that strategies to develop teacher presence in online learning environments could improve student motivation and learning.

Authors

• Ella Miesner, Austin ISD

• Diane L. Schallert, University of Texas at Austin