Laurier Brantford recently developed a core program, called the Foundations, in response to student and faculty feedback concerning the potential degradation of students’ fundamental academic skills such as academic writing, critical thinking, and researching abilities. As instructors of one of these core courses, we have noted changes to student motivation and engagement with this course over time. Student (academic) motivation in post-secondary education has received significant attention in the scholarship of teaching and learning over the last 20 years (see Fortier, Callerand, & Guay, 1995; Miquelon, Vallerand, Grouzet, & Cardinal, 2005; Domene, Socholotiuk, & Woitowicz, 2011). We continue this focus by juxtaposing motivation and student engagement against student valuation of fundamental academic skill development. Using findings from the course assessment surveys conducted at the end of our course over the past three years, we explore students’ experiences of curriculum designed for the purpose of cultivating both academic and professional skills necessary for students graduating and entering the workplace today. This paper is relevant to the
Motivating Learners theme, with a particular focus on fostering student engagement, encouraging student grit and persistence, as well as student reflections on self-motivation.
We hope to shed light on student experiences of academic skill development as well as student perceptions of success in personal, educational, and professional realms. This presentation will also include our experiences developing and delivering this course using a multi-disciplinary approach. This session will focus on providing an engaging paper related to our recent, ongoing research that will include dialogue with participants/audience.
The learning outcomes of this presentation include:
- Develop deeper understanding of how student motivation and engagement occur
- Develop an action plan to invigorate grit and persistence among students