Cluster and trajectory analysis of motivation in an emergency remote programming course

PeerJ Comput Sci. 2024 Jan 12:10:e1787. doi: 10.7717/peerj-cs.1787. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Emergency remote teaching is a temporary change in the way education occurs, whereby an educational system unexpectedly becomes entirely remote. This article analyzes the motivation of students undertaking a university course over one semester of emergency remote teaching in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. University students undertaking a programming course were surveyed three times during one semester, about motivation and COVID concern. This work explores which student motivation profiles existed, how motivation evolved, and whether concern about the pandemic was a factor affecting motivation throughout the course. The most adaptive profile was highly motivated, more prepared and less frustrated by the conditions of the course. However, this cluster experienced the highest levels of COVID-19 concern. The least adaptive cluster behaved as a mirror image of the most adaptive cluster. Clear differences were found between the clusters that showed the most and least concern about COVID-19.

Keywords: Computer education; Emergency remote course; Motivation; Programming.

Grants and funding

This work was partially funded by ANID FONDECYT 1220202, ANID FONDECYT 1211210, IDeA I+D 2210048, and National Center for Artificial Intelligence CENIA FB210017, Basal ANID. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.