Abstract
In this paper, we aim to address the major motivational factors of geography students in general and explore the extent to which these factors were important in working in a community-based research service-learning course. We designed a qualitative interview study as accompanying research to a study project in the bachelor's degree programme at the Ruhr University Bochum. Participation after the end of the course was voluntary; 13 course participants agreed to take part. One area of the interview guideline focussed specifically on motivational aspects. We examined the following research questions: RQ 1 What form does motivation take among participants? What are key factors that drive them in general? RQ 2 What role does motivation play in the work of the study project? The interviews were fully transcribed, and the qualitative data was pseudonymised and analysed by qualitative content analysis using the inductive category formation method. In response to the question regarding different forms of motivation, the following main categories could be identified: "relationship-related motivation", "performance-related motivation", "innovation-related motivation" and "personality-related motivation". The highest code frequency is in the main category of "performance-related motivation" which shows the particular importance of things like setting a goal or achieving your own success through your own effort for the students. Followed by "relationship-related motivation", the second most important. For the work in the study project, the motivation factors with a performance reference are precisely those that are relevant. Relationship-related motivational factors, however, played no role in working in the study project course.
Author Information
Janine Bittner, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
Janina Kempchen, State Cancer Registry NRW gGmbH, Germany
Paper Information
Conference: IICE2025
Stream: Learning Experiences
This paper is part of the IICE2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Bittner J., & Kempchen J. (2025) Factors Influencing Geography Students’ Motivation and Their Significance for the Work in a Community-Based Research Service-Learning Course ISSN: 2189-1036 – The IAFOR International Conference on Education – Hawaii 2025 Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 639-654) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-1036.2025.54
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2189-1036.2025.54
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