Why do they enroll in this course? Undergraduates’ course choice from a motivational perspective

Journal article

Lee, Hye Rin, von Keyserlingk, Luise, Arum, Richard and Eccles, Jacquelynne Sue. (2021). Why do they enroll in this course? Undergraduates’ course choice from a motivational perspective. Frontiers in Education. 6, p. Article 641254. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.641254
AuthorsLee, Hye Rin, von Keyserlingk, Luise, Arum, Richard and Eccles, Jacquelynne Sue
Abstract

Why do students pick various courses? Interdisciplinary research has highlighted the role of structural constraints, normative expectations, and individual motivation as the joint influences of agency and structure in the service of life goals. Here, we examined undergraduates’ reasons for course choices for their most difficult and most important courses. We compared the reasons for non-major vs. major courses, for freshman vs. juniors, and across different disciplines. College students selected courses that fulfilled their major or breadth requirements, particularly in their freshman year. STEM courses were taken more for career development reasons than other disciplines, particularly humanities courses; social sciences courses were taken more for interest than STEM courses; and humanities courses were taken more for intellectual broadening than STEM courses.

Keywordscourse choice; college students; motivation; reasons for enrollment; group differences; descriptives
Year2021
JournalFrontiers in Education
Journal citation6, p. Article 641254
PublisherFrontiers Research Foundation
ISSN2504-284X
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.641254
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85103638150
Open accessPublished as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range1-9
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Open
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online22 Mar 2021
Publication process dates
Accepted08 Feb 2021
Deposited25 Nov 2021
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