Degree Name

EdD (Doctor of Education)

Program

Educational Leadership

Date of Award

5-2021

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Hal Knight

Committee Members

Don Good, Leslie McCallister, Pamela Scott

Abstract

Student motivation and technology use are important considerations for higher education institutions. With increasing proportions of institutional funding being tied to student success and retention outcomes, gaining an awareness of how students tend to be motivated as well as their comfort and skill level with technology is critical for supporting student success in the collegiate classroom. The purpose of this study was to examine motivations for learning and technology use by specific generations, Generation X and Generation Y, among participants in two learning settings, a four-year university and a two-year community college. Differences in motivation type including intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation, and technology proficiency were also assessed based on respondent gender and institution type.

Results found that students from Generation Y had significantly higher scores on extrinsic motivation and amotivation compared to Generation X. Students in the two-year institution group scored significantly higher on intrinsic motivation compared to students from four-year institutions, and students from four-year institutions demonstrated significantly higher levels of amotivation. Female participants scored significantly higher than males on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and male participants scored significantly higher than females on the amotivation dimension than females. For technology use, participants from Generation X and participants from four-year institutions scored significantly higher than students from Generation Y and students from two-year institutions. No significant differences in technology use were found between male and female respondents.

Document Type

Dissertation - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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