Social media and e-portfolios : impacting design students’ motivation through project-based learning

Abstract

University-level classrooms have seen a massive transformation from instructor-led to student-centered education, with many courses adopting project-based learning as an effective learning approach. As students become key actors in leading their courses, it is necessary to have high-level intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. In the search to enhance student motivation using project-based learning, this article proposes a framework based on self-determination theory, including various indicators of the level of students’ motivation for learning. In particular, the framework was applied to explore the effectiveness of employing social media, such as Facebook, to increase student motivation. The results of this study demonstrate the usefulness of employing social media to amplify students’ will to learn. This article reports on the results of action research in creative media design courses where students were required to develop an e-portfolio through Facebook. Eleven indicators (autonomy, confidence, eagerness to learn, high performance, independence, enjoyment, self-efficacy, sense of achievement, sense of belonging, sense of engagement, and sympathy) were used to measure motivation. As a result, this study argues for the conditional use of social media in project-based learning classes.