Attitudes Towards Digital Educational Technologies, Academic Motivation and Academic Achievements Among Russian University Students

Abstract

AbstractThe purpose of present research is to reveal and compare the relationship of attitudes towards the digital educational technologies (DET) with academic motivation and academic achievements in Russian university students. The sample includes 173 (61% - female) first- and second-year university students of different fields of study (Natural Sciences, Medicine, and Psychology). To determine the motivation of students’ educational activity, the “Academic motivation scales” questionnaire by T.O. Gordeeva et al. was used. To diagnose students’ attitudes towards DET, the authors’ questionnaire was developed. GPA was used to assess the academic achievements of last academic year. The descriptive statistics methods, coefficients Cronbach’ α and McDonald’s ω, the Spearman’s correlation analysis, and factor analysis (Varimax) were used for statistical analysis. Statistical processing was carried out in the R software environment for statistical computing and graphics, version 3.6.1., psych package version 1.9.6. Findings of our research showed that university students with more pronounced intrinsic academic motivation are more involved in the digital space in general and more involved in the use of DET, while more amotivated students, on the contrary, less involved in the digital space and in the use of DET. At the same time, higher performing students tend to be more involved in the digital space in general. However, there is a specificity of these relations in students from different field of study. The obtained data must be taken into account when DET are implemented in the educational programs for students of different fields of study, based on their psychological characteristics.KeywordsDigital educational technologiesUniversity studentsAttitudes towards digital educational technologiesAcademic motivationAcademic achievements