Motivations Based on Self-determination for Learning in university students at the Instituto Politecnico Nacional

ABSTRACT

The objective of this article was to analyze the appreciations that female and male students at one of the higher-level schools of the Instituto Politecnico Nacional in Mexico have regarding the factors related to self-determination in order to identify the perceptions about the motivations and attitudes of students towards online learning in the second year of the COVID-19 lockdown. It is a quantitative study in which online questionnaires were applied to 3,275 students;a convenience sample was used. Data were analyzed with SPSS software and exploratory factor analysis, the U Mann Whitney non-parametric test, and generalized linear models with the Omnibus contrast test were used for the analysis of the explanatory variables of the models (which were divided between women and men). It was found that men obtained higher scores in the factors of intrinsic motivation, introjected regulation, and extrinsic material;while women averaged higher in those feelings and perceptions generated by demotivation. It is concluded that it is important to work with women's self-esteem and female empowerment, in addition to influencing young people about the knowledge they have about the careers they are studying. It is essential to raise their expectations about their future profession, and in this way, reduce the apathy, discouragement, and sadness of young people, as well as increase hope for the future.