Applying Stages of Change in an Academic Context to Help Students Adopt Healthy Learning Dispositions and Behaviors

Abstract

In this work in progress paper for the research category, we describe preliminary results from our design-based research project. Students leave engineering majors for many reasons. However, studies on goal orientation theory have shown that mastery goal orientation has positive correlations with outcomes such as persistence, self-efficacy, and self-regulated learning. We developed and taught an eight-week, one-credit course called Engineering the Mind as an intervention to encourage students to adopt positive learning dispositions and behaviors. We used the Stages of Change model as our theoretical framework to understand how engineering students adopt these learning dispositions and behaviors. We used multiple methods to assess student outcomes, collecting pre-post survey data as well as students’ self-reflection assignments. In our preliminary results, we describe students in different Stages of Change based on their weekly course assignment on planning.