What are student’s motivations to be at university?
A student’s experience is derived from the decision to enrol in university, this decision is something that many high school leavers have to make. When we think about university, often what comes to mind is studying something you like with no pressure, friends, partying and being social while edging towards a successful career. But not everybody has made the decision to go to university. I conducted a research project at the University of Wollongong to attempt to find out what are student’s motivations to be at university?
My research was conducted using primary and secondary research, through an online survey and scholar articles. This was a small-scale research project, and it is important to note that the survey received 20 responses. In the future, a larger-scale research project on this topic would be beneficial and would acquire a more accurate sample. Next time I will try to promote my survey more consistently on twitter. Understanding the ethical responsibilities of creating research surveys played a huge role in this experience. Without understanding how crucial consent is and the vital responsibilities of a researcher, this project would not have been as reliable or safe. By abiding to the ethical responsibilities, participants information remained staying anonymous and safe. Next time, at the end of the survey, I would ask for their email in case they wanted to withdraw their answers or in case something went wrong. The risk here is that they would no longer be anonymous, however it could of created a peace of mind for respondents.
Reflecting on this project, I learnt lots about how to ethically and effectively conduct research. However, there are a few things I would do differently next time. The first thing would be to ask more in depth questions about if their motivations have changed over time and if they feel pressure to have a successful career. I would then ask if it effects their student experience at all, rather than assuming it does. Asking ‘if’ their motivations to be at university effect their student experience rather than ‘how’ would have provided a more concise outcome. Another thing I would consider next time is to interview a few participants for greater understanding of how their motivations affect them. Risks outlined in the risk matrix that occurred include ‘being unmotivated’. Being unmotivated stemmed from the lack of concentration and motivation due to online uni. Unfortunately, I ended up not following the time planning in my Gantt chart which lead to extra stress.
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