Analysis of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation impact on achievement of first-year civil engineering students in Osijek

The largest decrease in the number of students of the Civil Engineering Faculty in Osijek occurs during the first years of studying. This paper analyzes the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on students' achievement in the selected course during the first semester of the full-time undergraduate study. Based on the survey among first-year students, which examined themotivational variables and subjective ratings of specific prior knowledge of subjects associated with the selected course, a database of 90 subjects has been obtained. This research has explored the possibility of using neural networks for the prediction of the learning outcomes expressed in measurable and observable terms, i.e., grades earned in the selected course. Several configurations of neural networks have been examined and the neural network that achieved the best correlation in the success prediction has been used to analyse the impact of each input variable on the students’ success achieved during the selected course. According to the Self-determination theory, increasing of intrinsic motivation would lead to higher student achievement, greater creativity and flexibility of thinking and better long-term memory. Variable intrinsic motivation can be encouraged by a certain social atmosphere, by strengthening individual sense of autonomy, by competence and connection. The results of this study have revealed a complex interaction of input variables, but generally the effect of extrinsic motivation on achievement of students included in this research is more significant. These results are indicative, but they should be taken with a grain of salt, because they include the assessment of the success of learning outcomes of the only one course. More realistic picture requires a longer period of observation of the students' achievement, including more courses and the observation of the overall success of students during their undergraduate studies.