Weekly Fluctuations in Motivation in Introductory Programming

Abstract

In this study, we look into fluctuations in types of motivation in an introductory programming course. Using weekly surveys to measure intrinsic motivation through interest and enjoyment, willingness to learn, interest in context, and time spent on the programming course, we study the evolution of students’ motivation throughout the course. We identify subgroups based on the collected data, and study to what extent the early course motivation and time spent on the course can be used to predict course retention. We observe substantial fluctuations in motivation and time spent over the course rounds, and further identify three subgroups of students in the data with considerable variation in motivation and time spent. At the same time, we observe that despite marked differences in motivation and the time that students spend on the course, these differences, early on in the course, do not seem to help in predicting course dropouts.