Learning Strategies and Motivation in Online Education: A Survey on The Undergraduate Physical Therapy Students

Abstract

Background: Student motivation is an important determinant of academic performance. Teachers can employ a variety of extrinsic motivators in the usual physical classrooms. However, they have fewer opportunities to keep the students motivated in a virtual learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Intrinsic motivation is a key factor to ensure good academic performance in online education.
 Objective: To determine the Student motivation and learning strategies in online education among undergraduate physical therapy students.
 Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on undergraduate physical therapy students from institutes of Islamabad/Rawalpindi. A sample of 305 students was selected using convenience sampling technique. Learning strategies and student motivation were determined using the 44-item Motivated strategies for learning questionnaire (MLSQ).
 Results: The mean scores for motivation subscales i.e. self-efficacy, Intrinsic value, and test anxiety were 34.65±11.4, 39.83±12.13, and 17.93±5.81 respectively. For the subscales of learning strategies, the average values were 62.28±17.04 and 40.88±10.85 for cognitive strategy use and self-regulation respectively. Statistically significant differences (p-value<0.05) were observed between the motivation level of males and females with males having a higher mean value as compared to females. The Differences in learning strategies were statistically not significant (p-value>0.05) between males and females.
 Conclusion: Undergraduate physical therapy students show average levels of self-efficacy and intrinsic values in online learning and high levels of test anxiety. Cognitive strategy use and selfregulation were also reported to be high with online learning. Males show higher motivation levels in online education as compared to female undergraduate physical therapy students