Abstract
Capstone experiences (CEs) are established high impact practices (HIPs) designed so students can synthesize their knowledge and skills obtained across their academic training. Understanding how instructors’ intrinsic motivation and external expectations influence the design of CEs can help institutions create resources to support instructors when developing and teaching CEs. We aimed to determine whether different levels of intrinsic motivation were associated with: (1) demographics of faculty teaching CEs, (2) structure of CEs, (3) pedagogy or assignments used by faculty teaching CEs, and (4) use of resources and/or perceived resource effectiveness available to faculty teaching CEs. We used a fixed convergent mixed methods approach in which quantitative and qualitative research questions were distributed via survey and interviews, respectively. Data were collected and analyzed independently. Analyzed data were merged to compare and interpret qualitative and quantitative results pertaining to faculty perceptions of motivation related to teaching CEs. Instructors who develop and teach CEs are highly intrinsically motivated. The quantitative and qualitative data reveal the instructors’ perceptions of value of and their interest in the CE were the most common intrinsic motivators. The participants with the highest levels of intrinsic motivation used more evidence-based pedagogical approaches, reported higher colleague recognition, and reported access to more teaching resources. Understanding the factors that promote motivation to develop and teach CEs is imperative to support instructor and student success when engaging in this type of HIP.
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Funding
All the authors of this study received support from The Research Seminar on “Capstone Experiences as a High Impact Practice” offered through Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. The seminar brings together faculty developers, faculty, and instructors from across the world to work on a focused research project that explores the larger topic of CEs. Support included room, board, and travel for 1 week in two consecutive summers. None of the authors received any additional funding.
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All authors were involved in the development of the quantitative survey, interview question development, conducting interviews, and design of the project. CB, MG, OAS, determined the themes from the interviews. MJL and OSA analyzed the data from the survey and interviews. MJL and OSA created the initial manuscript draft and all authors contributed feedback and editing to create the submitted version. All authors have approved the finalized version.
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All procedures were performed in accordance with the ethical standards of each institution and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The survey and interviews were approved or determined exempt by the IRBs of each of the faculty’s institutions when they were administered (The College of Idaho, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin- Green Bay, University of Southern Florida, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania).
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of survey participants was collected at the beginning of the survey. Informed consent for participants of the interviews was obtained via the signature. Informed consent provided participants with the purpose of the study, procedures, dissemination, confidentiality, benefits/risks, and voluntary participation.
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Anderson, O.S., Boswell, C., Gresham, M. et al. Associations of Intrinsic Motivation and External Pressures with Engaged Learning Pedagogies by Faculty Teaching Capstone Experiences: A Mixed Methods Approach. Innov High Educ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-023-09690-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-023-09690-5