What Works Best to Motivate Students in a General Education Introductory Economics Course

Considering the research gaps on student motivation of treating economics as an interesting subject matter, the learning goal of my research is to find what works best to engender positive learning experience for students dealing with serious motivational issues. My research design is based on the convergent parallel mixed methods using the quantitative pre-and-post anonymous online questionnaire surveys and the qualitative short reflection notes. Preliminary results show that there are convergences between the two sources of information regarding the student motivational factors. By the end of the semester, divergences between the two sources of information become more prominent. Regarding preferred student-learning techniques, active learning based on in-class discussion and exercises, group project, and pair-wise homework assignments are considered to be most effective in motivating students. Quizzes or exams became the most effective motivational factor at the end of the semester. This could be associated with students concern about their expected final grade, which is evident from student self-reported short reflection note.