Freedom of choice as motivational factor for active learning

  • Authors:

  • Atanas Radenski

  • Affiliations:

  • Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA

  • Venue:
  • ITiCSE '09 Proceedings of the 14th annual ACM SIGCSE conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

Freedom to choose what, when, and how to contribute in a learning process can motivate students to actively engage and achieve more in their studies. However, freedom of choice complicates course management and may deter instructors from allowing such freedom. Our approach is to utilize existing functionality of course management systems such as Moodle to automatically facilitate and coordinate free student choices and provide much needed relief for instructors at the same time. Using Moodle we have developed novel digital study packs that blend freedom of choice with guidance and control. Our survey shows that assisted freedom of choice is ranked highest in 51% of student responses -- in contrast to unlimited choice at 28% or no choice at all at 21%. Experience reported in this paper may be beneficial for instructors who would like to expand their courses with new motivational learning techniques.