Investigating Potential Gender Differences in First-Year Engineering Students' Academic Motivation and Homework Submission Behavior

Previous studies have shown that there exists a difference in undergraduate students' academic motivation based on gender. Specifically, females have been shown to be more extrinsically motivated than their male peers in a university setting [1]. However, little research has been done to examine the effects of gender relevant to academic motivation in gamified systems. The study of gamification systems is important due to the increase in their use within educational activities. This study leverages the Jones MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation and gamification profiles to answer the research questions: (1) Are there differences in academic motivation towards the online gamified homework portal based on gender? and (2) What effects does gender have on submission behavior in an online gamified homework portal? Academic motivation was determined through student responses to the MUSIC Model survey. Behavior was measured through gamification profiles that measured submission behavior over the course of the semester. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics to determine if any meaningful differences existed. Overall, it was shown that females have consistently higher overall academic motivation scores than males. It was also shown that males have a wider distribution of gamification profiles, ranging from disheartened behavior to overachieving behavior. Females, on the other hand, were more likely to have a consistent homework submission behavior.