Motivation of undergraduate students in Accounting Sciences throughout the course

Abstract

The general objective of this research is to verify if the students of the course of Accounting of a public university present significant changes in the levels of motivation during the course in the light of the Theory of Self-determination. The sample was composed of 91 students of a Brazilian public university, who participated in the research between the years 2014 and 2016. Initially, through the factorial exploratory analysis, factors related to motivational types were identified. Posteriorly, the mean scores of the students were calculated, which were compared through the Wilcoxon test in both moments. Finally, differences between the means of factorial scores were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test for demographic variables (shift, gender, labor market bonding, and participation in academic activities). The results showed that the factors related to extrinsic motivation due to external regulation and related to demotivation presented significant differences between the means in the two moments investigated. These results are worrying, as the increase in demotivation may have repercussions on academic achievement and on course avoidance rates. Thus, we suggest investigate possible strategies for maintaining or increasing motivational levels of students throughout the course.