Measuring and enhancing student motivation in forestry undergraduates

Project Investigator: Andres Varhola, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Forest Resources Management

Project Description

Lack of motivation is an important driver of low engagement and performance among undergraduates. While the logical first step to enhance motivation is measuring it, no peer-reviewed study has reported motivation indicators for forestry students. Discipline-specific motivational scaling is important because career choices vary depending on vocation, family pressures, job market or financial restrictions. This project aims to use the MES-UC motivational scale developed by Dr. Andrew Martin —chosen after an extensive literature review— to quantify motivation at the beginning and end of various undergraduate forestry courses and explore the relationship between motivation indicators, teaching methods and student performance (grades).

Project Questions

  1. What is the baseline level of motivation in UBC Forestry undergraduates in different courses?
  2. What are the underlying causes of lack of motivation in UBC Forestry undergraduates?
  3. How can student motivation be enhanced at the faculty level?

Impact on teaching and learning at UBC

Understanding student motivation is critical for tackling one of the root causes of student underperformance and for enhancing wellbeing in general. The repeated use of the MES-UC scale in various UBC Forestry courses will provide invaluable data to determine which teaching methods and pedagogical approaches improve or negatively affect student motivation. Appropriate dissemination of the project deliverables will encourage professors to incorporate the concept of motivation in their courses —from design to delivery and evaluation— and choose practices that ultimately facilitate student performance in the long term.