Student Retention in an Introductory Stem Course: A Mixed Methods Study of Student Motivation and Teaching Approaches

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education is vital to all students. Student motivation, both intrinsic and extrinsic, have been found to be very influential in how successful a student is in a STEM classroom (Krapp, 2007; Lamb, Annetta, Meldrum, & Vallett, 2012; Schoon, Ross, & Martin, 2007; Skinner, Saxton, Currie, & Shuststerman, 2017). The current study examined what correlations, if any, we present between teaching approaches, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation of students in an undergraduate, non-major, introductory chemistry course at a mid-sized, four-year university in the Midwestern United States. In the focus groups, students were highly motivated by grades and program requirements. However, students who enjoyed guided learning had significant differences between intrinsic value, self-determination, and self-regulation. Though students found the course challenging and uninteresting, the external motivation of grades increased their intrinsic motivation, which is reported to be associated with high levels of effort and task performance (Froiland et al., 2012). This correlation seems to suggest guided learning can have an impact on student motivation in an introductory STEM course