Beyond the Classroom: An Analysis of Internal and External Factors Related to Students’ Love of Learning and Educational Outcomes

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The study is relevant due to the rapidly changing learning environment and the decrease in student motivation and activity. The paper presents the results of data collection and analysis to better understand students' learning factors such as love of learning, Flow, academic travelling and their results (GPA). The cross-sectional survey is conducted in several dimensions - year of study, specialty, country of origin. The analysis made shows that two demographic dimensions - discipline and country of origin - can have an impact on students' self-reported love of learning.

I accept the findings and conclusions of the study. The statistical methods used are appropriate. To improve the quality of the article, I suggest to improve the quality of Fig.1, which presents the conceptual model.

Author Response

I would like to thank the reviewer for their support and their suggestion to improve the visualisation of our conceptual model in Figure 1.  We believe we have made significant improvements to that visualisation, of which we have attached (concept1).

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This study aims to evaluate the impact of internal factors, such as the psychological state of flow and a self-reported love of learning, alongside external influences like year of study, academic discipline, country of origin, and academic travel. The bedset of this study has been 112 university students, that have been called to respond to a survey on spring semester 2023.

The article is interesting and fits within the scope of the special issue

Statistic analysis has been performed on the survey applied. Nevertheless, I have identified some areas that require further development to enhance the overall quality of the manuscript. Below are my specific suggestions:

The literature review section requires further development to strengthen the overall study. Below are some specific suggestions that might help enhance this section:

The current literature review seems to be limited in scope. It would be beneficial to include more studies that cover a wider range of perspectives and findings related to students’ enjoyment form classes, Students’ satisfaction as well as the impact of covid-19 (since the study has been recently performed), after the disruption caused the educational process by the pandemic. This will provide a more comprehensive background and context for your research.

The authors have based their research on 12 references, out of which 6 are outdated.

You may consider Incorporating Recent Studies, as the literature review appears to miss some recent developments in the field. Including up-to-date research published in the last few years can help demonstrate the relevance and timeliness of your study. I recommend searching for recent articles in top-tier journals related to the topic investigated.

One of the key purposes of a literature review is to identify gaps, debates, and controversies in existing research. Highlighting these aspects can help justify the need for your study and clarify how it contributes to the existing body of knowledge.

Discussing relevant theoretical frameworks can add depth to your related review section. This includes explaining how these theories have been applied in previous studies and how they relate to your research. Ensure that the literature review includes a diverse range of sources, including different geographical contexts, methodologies, and perspectives. This can provide a more well-rounded understanding of the research topic.

Minor comments:

In the paragraph formatting select: “justify”

Survey: line 113: the authors state that they applied a 5-likert scale in their questionnaire. Nevertheless, in line 116 the authors describe a question “On a scale of 1-10” Is this a 5 or a 10-likert scale, or a mixed questionnaire?

Line 32: Maybe the title should be “Introduction” instead of “Summary”?

 

Overall, the article is interesting, but the literature review, discussion and Elaboration of Results sections need improvement. I believe that addressing these points will significantly enhance the quality and impact of the manuscript, mostly focussing on your literature review section.

Author Response

We would like to thank the reviewer for their detailed and constructive review. We believe that stemming from this particular reviewer's comment, namely to add a literature review, the manuscript has undergone a substantial improvement. 

Importantly, a broad literature review section has been added to the manuscript, with a significant expansion of the works cited, particularly those relevant to the variables of interest of this study. This review includes connecting each of our motivation and outcome variables to the broader findings in the field, establishing how each variable relates to the other.

We further explored the literature for the effects certain student demographics may have on student motivation and found several interesting studies and results in regards to place of origin, year, and major. As a result, the bibliography has been expanded from 12 references to 51, from which more than a dozen citations are recent, with a publication date from 2018 onwards. 

Although post-Covid impacts are not explored in specific detail as suggested, we do cite it as a motiving factor for this study in regard to student in class phone use and psychological flow. We had hoped to keep our study, and in turn, literature review, more broadly centred around student motivations rather than more specific in detailing the impact of Covid-19. Hopefully this is a sufficient explanation, a more general approach to the study of student motivation, or else we can revisit adding a specific Covid section in the review, should follow-up revisions be suggested.  

Lastly, as a result of adding a literature review section, we have also incorporated discussion section into the manuscript. This connects our findings with those reviewed. This section further enriches the readers'  understanding of our findings and how they fit within the broader educational literature. 

Again we thank the reviewer for their comments and believe that the article is now suitable for publication. 

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This paper examines students' self-reported love of learning and intrinsic motivation, as well as how students from different disciplines and countries perceive their love of learning, and provides valuable insights into the relationships between different factors that influence student engagement and achievement in higher education.

Comments and suggestions for authors:

Add a Introduction section instead summary: A concise introduction preceding the abstract could provide contextualisation for the aims and significance of the study.

- Add Related Work/Literature Background: Including a section on related work or literature background would situate the paper within the broader academic discourse and highlight its contribution to existing knowledge.

- Add more explanation of the choice of ANOVA and Tukey's HSD as statistical methods is warranted. A discussion of their appropriateness for the research questions and data type would strengthen the methodological justification.

- Theoretically describe the relationship between love of learning and motivation: Delve deeper into the relationship between students' love of learning and motivation, drawing on theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence to illuminate their interplay and implications for educational practice.

Provide additional context for the rationale behind the selection of specific statistical methods, particularly in relation to the research question. Discuss how these methods serve the aims and hypotheses of the study to enhance methodological rigour.

The use of data visualisation techniques, such as graphs or charts, would enhance the clarity and interpretability of the findings, facilitate comparisons between variables, and strengthen the impact of the paper.

I suggest to include a discussion section: 

 - It would analyse the findings in relation to the existing literature, identify practical implications for educational practice, and suggest avenues for further investigation.

-  Addressing study limitations, such as small sample size, is essential to contextualise findings and guide future research directions. Consider proposing strategies to mitigate these limitations, such as using more representative samples.

- Analyse the findings within the theoretical framework: Analyse findings within the theoretical framework to enrich the interpretation and contribute to theoretical advances. Explore how findings either support or challenge existing theories, and propose conceptual models to explain observed phenomena.

-  Rather than making general statements, specifically highlight findings that are supported by empirical evidence. This specificity will enhance the clarity and credibility of the conclusions by grounding them firmly in data-driven evidence.

Author Response

We would like to thank the reviewer for their detailed and constructive review. We believe that as a result of their comments, the manuscript has undergone significant improvements. 

First, we have made the suggested change in title from Summary to Introduction in the first section of the manuscript. We utilised a previous published paper in the first issue of this special edition as a guide to title our sections, and this particular article used the title Summary instead of Introduction. We do believe that the section as written is suitable as an introduction, as it briefly outlines our motivations, setting, variables, and goals.  

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, a broad literature review section has been added to the manuscript. This review significantly expands the works cited, particularly those relevant to the variables of interest of this study. This review includes connecting each of our motivation and outcome variables to the broader findings of those researching similar variables in the field of education, and establishes how each of the variables relates to one another and GPA.

We further explored the literature for the effects certain student demographics may have on student motivation and found several interesting studies and results in regards to place of origin, year, and major. Between a review of student motivation and demographic differences, the bibliography has been expanded from 12 references to 51, from which more than a dozen studies are recent, with a publication date from 2018 onwards. Moreover, we connect these studies to our newly added discussion section, which we discuss in more detail below.

The result of the addition of a substantial literature review section, is the incorporation of a substantial discussion section into the manuscript. This section connects our own study's findings with those found in the literature review, as well as provides the basis for the broad theoretical discussion we explore in the discussion section. We hope that the addition of this discussion further enriches both the readers and our understanding of our results and how they broadly fit, as the reviewer rightly suggests. 

In regard to our analysis and the appropriateness of our chosen methodology, we have also added several works cited from the field of education research.  These studies take a similar approach to ours and utilise similar statistical tools like ANOVA and Cohen's d to evaluate the statistical differences between student cohorts:

The combined use of ANOVA, Tukey’s HSD, and Cohen’s d provides a comprehensive analysis, from detecting differences to understanding their relevance and magnitude. These methods are particularly well-suited for educational research where understanding nuances between different demographic factors is crucial for policymaking and educational improvements. Over the past two decades, many studies in the field have utilized a similar methodology, employing these statistical tools to uncover differences in student learning outcomes, academic life satisfaction, and adjustment periods, based upon differences in socio-demographic characteristics, student motivations, learning techniques, and personality traits [38, 39, 40, 41, 42]. 

Finally, we have added density plots to our results section. These data visualisations illustrate and highlight the differences between cohorts as pseudo-distributions found in the statistical results tables. We believe that these visual additions to the tabled results significantly enhance the clarity and credibility of our conclusions, as the reviewer suggests. You will find an example of one such visualisation attached. 

Again we thank the reviewer for their comments. We trust that based upon these major revisions and additions, the article is now suitable for publication in this special edition. 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have responded to the reviewers’ comments. The quality of the article has been scientifically improved.

The authors have extended their bibliographic references. They now have a solid base for their research. They have done an enormous effort. Nevertheless, out of the 51 publications cited, 21 of them are outdated. I understand that some of them are crucial in order to create a solid base for this research. I would recommend to the authors to replace 10 of them with more recent publications.

As the literature review section is very important for this article, I would recommend a “literature review” introduction section in line 100. It would be very explicative for future readers to read a paragraph of the 4 research topics investigated below.

Although future work is clearly stated in the conclusion section, the limitations of this study are not found, or not clearly stated.

An abbreviation table is suggested to be added at the end of the manuscript

The manuscript needs attention of formatting. Text justification should be revised, as well as tables’ formatting.

The authors have managed to significally improve the quality of their manuscript in the revised version. Some points need to capture their attention, in order to point out the significance of their work and handled before publication

Author Response

Thank you again to the reviewer for their recent round of comments. We believe we have addressed all their constructive suggestions, and I will detail the updates we have made below.

1. We believe we have address the formatting issue. Should more format issues arise, we will work with the editor to address. 

2. We have added the following introduction to the literature review, at the previous line 100:

This literature review explores the multifaceted concept of student motivation within the contexts of teaching and learning and educational psychology. Excluding this brief introduction, the review is structured into five distinct sections, each focusing on specific aspects of student motivation, their interconnections, and outcomes.

Section 2.2 categorizes the broad fundamental factors influencing student motivation, distinguishing between intrinsic motivations, such as personal interest and enjoyment, and extrinsic motivations, such as grades, external rewards and recognition. This section emphasizes the significant role that both intrinsic and extrinsic factors have in enhancing student engagement, performance, as well as short and long-term educational outcomes.

Section 2.3 examines how the classroom setting and dynamics influence intrinsic student motivation, specifically love of learning, and extrinsic learning outcomes, namely GPA. Key aspects include teacher support, classroom dynamics, and a positive learning environment, which collectively foster both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and better learning outcomes. The section highlights the importance of creating a supportive and engaging classroom atmosphere to boost student motivation and GPA.

Section 2.4 delves into the factors that influence learning while students are engaged in the act of study. One such factor is the psychological state of flow that students experience when effectively focused on learning tasks. Another factor to consider is the active, experiential learning that is offered outside the classroom via outlets like academic travel or study abroad programs. This section attempts to better understand how these ‘in the moment’ and ‘in situ’ factors can more broadly influence student motivation and outcomes.   

Section 2.5 focuses on the influence differing student demographics and cultural influences have on motivation and GPA. Students’ year of study, major discipline, and place of origin all affect the student experience, in turn influencing students’ fundamental drive to learn. As a result, certain student cohorts have been found to be more motivated by intrinsic than extrinsic factors and vice versa. This section underscores the importance of exploring those demographic factors relative to student motivation.

Section 2.6 synthesizes several recent findings on student motivation, from which emerges a drive by educators to develop pro-social, innovative classroom environments, and to integrate new technologies, including, most recently, Artificial Intelligence (AI). In short, the rise of digitally connected classrooms, accelerated post-COVID-19, has necessitated new approaches to reignite diminishing student motivation in recent years. This final section briefly touches on the potential benefits and challenges of developing new pedagogies and incorporating technologies like AI in the context of fostering student motivation in the modern classroom learning environment.

By weaving together these topics, this review provides a comprehensive understanding of the diverse factors that drive student motivation and offers insights into how educators can foster a more motivating and effective learning environment.

3. We believe have addressed some of the limitations of the timeliness of our selected references by adding the following subsection to our literature review with the accompanying references:

2.6 Recent Studies on Student Motivation

Recent studies on fostering student motivation emphasize the use of integrating innovative teaching strategies and technologies. This is largely driven by classroom digitization and faltering student motivation post Covid-19 [36, 37]. In turn, developing an interactive and pro-social learning environment is extremely important, both in the online and in-person context, with innovative teaching being a primary driver of in-classroom motivation to learn in the modern classroom context [38]. One such example of an innovative teaching strategy is classroom gamification, where presently pedagogical frameworks are being developed for novel classroom environments like the educational escape room [39].

Artificial Intelligence is another emerging technology that warrants further study regarding its impact on both students’ and teachers’ willingness to integrate and adapt to such tools. Early evidence suggests that AI has had a positive impact on motivation by providing personalized feedback and tailored learning approaches to students [40]. Moreover, teachers appear to have a positive attitude and willingness towards adopting AI, but most teachers’ AI literacy is presently low [41]. However, unlike past technological divides where older cohorts lagged, students’ ability to work with AI has also been found to be lagging [42].   

36. Xu, Zhining, Jia Pang, and Jin Chi. (2022). Through the COVID-19 to Prospect Online School Learning: Voices of Students from China, Lebanon, and the US. Education Sciences 12, no. 7: 472. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12070472

37. Jamal, N., Hasan, N., & Ghafar, N. (2023). Students’ Perception Regarding Mode of Learning in the Post COVID-19. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science. https://doi.org/10.47772/ijriss.2023.7880

38. Lin, P., Huang, L., & Lin, S. (2022). Why teaching innovation matters: Evidence from a pre- versus peri-COVID-19 pandemic comparison of student evaluation data. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.963953.

39. González-Yubero, Sara, Marta Mauri, María Jesús Cardoso, and Raquel Palomera. (2023). "Learning through Challenges and Enigmas: Educational Escape Room as a Predictive Experience of Motivation in University Students" Sustainability 15, no. 17: 13001. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151713001.

40. Niu, Shuanghong Jenny, Jiutong Luo, Hannele Niemi, Xiaoqing Li, and Yu Lu. (2022). "Teachers’ and Students’ Views of Using an AI-Aided Educational Platform for Supporting Teaching and Learning at Chinese Schools" Education Sciences 12, no. 12: 858. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12120858.

41. Polak, S., Schiavo, G., & Zancanaro, M. (2022). Teachers’ Perspective on Artificial Intelligence Education: an Initial Investigation. CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Extended Abstracts. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491101.3519866.

42. Mnhrawi, D., & Alreshidi, H. (2022). A systemic approach for implementing AI methods in education during COVID-19 pandemic: higher education in Saudi Arabia. World Journal of Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1108/wje-11-2021-0623.

4. We added several detailed paragraphs in regard to the limitations of the study to the Conclusion section of the article, found below:

Although this current study opens multiple paths for future research into the interrelationships between student motivation, demographics, and learning outcomes, the generalizability of the study’s findings is limited by its small sample size, especially when the sample is disaggregated into the smaller subsamples that provide us with our cohorts. Temporally our study is also limited, as it is a snapshot of student motivation at one point of one semester. Although our year-on-year cohort analysis provides some measure of temporal change, our survey oversampled year one students. Additionally, timing is an important factor for GPA, as even small changes in GPA may affect our results. Thus, the measure of a student’s GPA would ideally be recorded from current transcripts rather than student memory. Furthermore, the geographical scope of the study is limited to only one small liberal arts university in Switzerland. Student motivation and outcome may also be influenced by institutional factors, including setting, size, and prestige, and thus cohort comparisons across multiple institutions would enrich this study’s findings.  

In the future, collecting larger, stratified samples is suggested, allowing for the analysis of specific cohorts by origin, year, major, and/or academic travel, to be analyzed with greater generalizability. Moreover, researchers may not wish to be limited by the cohorts found in this study, but expand their analysis to other student demographics, such as gender.

Finally, Love of Learning, though a promising variable of interest, may be further developed beyond its current self-reported one-item, ten-ordered scale. Researchers may wish to add more open-ended questions to help uncover the possibility that different perceptions of love of learning are shaped by different cultural aspects, especially differing educational systems. Reflecting on both our findings and limitations, we remain strong advocates for researchers to adopt some measure of love of learning as a variable of importance when collecting data for the purposes of analyzing student motivations and educational outcomes.    

5. We added a table of abbreviations to the end of the manuscript. 

We believe that these changes and additions have further improved the article and that now it should be in a state worthy of publication. Thank you.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

any comments

Author Response

Thank you to this reviewer, we believe that their comments improved the state of the manuscript and that it is ready for publication.