Loading...
Why do they enroll in this course? Undergraduates’ course choice from a motivational perspective
Lee, Hye Rin von Keyserlingk, Luise Arum, Richard Eccles, Jacquelynne Sue
Lee, Hye Rin
von Keyserlingk, Luise
Arum, Richard
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.
Keywords
course choice, college students, motivation, reasons for enrollment, group differences, descriptives
Date
2021
Type
Journal article
Journal
Frontiers in Education
Book
Volume
6
Issue
Page Range
1-9
Article Number
Article 641254
ACU Department
Institute for Positive Psychology and Education
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Files
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access
Open