Sustaining Motivation of Engineering Students in India by Managing their Academic & Affective Needs

In India, nearly 1.5 million students enrol in engineering programs in around 4000 colleges. These students come from very diverse demographic, sociocultural and economic backgrounds. Many of them are unable to successfully transition from school to the very demanding environment of engineering education because of poor levels of academic and emotional preparedness. They become demotivated and disengaged which in turn, negatively impacts their academic performance. The objective of this study is to investigate the reasons for demotivation and recommend possible solutions. The study was conducted in three phases using multiple specially designed instruments. In the first phase, Instrument 1 was administered to 349 students to establish the diversity in engineering student population. Then, 79 students with low motivation and academic performance were identified using Instrument II. Personal interviews were conducted using Instrument III with the identified low-performing subjects to get an insight into their learning and emotional needs. Over an entire semester, well-planned interventions were provided to address the identified learning and emotional needs. At the end of the semester, academic performance of the 79 subjects was re-recorded. Due to sudden lockdown and transition to online instruction in the middle of the semester (because of COVID-19), separate data were collected for pre and post lock down periods. Results obtained showed remarkable progress in both pre and post lockdown periods. The paper concludes with a set of concrete recommendations for engineering institutions and faculty for effectively managing student motivation, building confidence and getting them ready for the highly competitive job market.