Engineering Students' Varying Motivation and Self-concept in Mathematics

This study investigates engineering students' views about the factors which have influenced their motivation, mathematical self-concept, and their performance in mathematics. Eleven students from three engineering programmes at one Swedish university were interviewed about their experience from studying mathematics in university. All students were motivated to study mathematics in the beginning of the first year at university but some of them lost motivation after the first year, mostly because of private reasons. However, independent of their study performance, students reported that they had become more self-confident in studying mathematics after the first year which in turn enhanced their mathematical self-concept. Furthermore, a majority of students indicated that transition to online education, prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, had a negative impact on their motivation and performance. Specifically, they highlighted the absence of in-person communication as a significant challenge. Additionally, students conveyed that receiving continuous feedback and engaging in practice-oriented lectures would greatly benefit their mathematics studies.