Motivation of Computer Science Students at Universities Organized around Small Groups

Abstract

The academic performance of students is affected by the academic context, their aptitudes and their motivation. The latter is particularly important in Engineering disciplines because the contents to be learnt are especially complex and many students end up having a low performance that leads them to absenteeism and drop out. The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) provides several recommendations related to the academic context (ongoing assessment, mentoring processes and active learning methods among others) that seem to have a positive impact on the students’ motivation. However, these cannot always be implemented due to the high number of students per class existing at many Universities. This contribution presents an empirical case study performed with 149 Computer Science students of a University organized around small groups and innovative educational methodologies. The benefits and outcomes of this academic conditions, as well as their impact in the students’ motivation, are analyzed and discussed.