2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The influence of personality traits on academic motivation and learning strategies: A pathway to reducing STEM students attrition.

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session I

Student attrition is a long standing issue in the United States especially among Black and African-Americans. Diverse efforts are ongoing to combat this age-long challenge, especially among younger generations with their peculiarities. However, attention has not been paid to how the personality attributes of young learners in STEM disciplines measured using tools such as the Big Five Personality Test or the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) theory influence current attrition reduction strategies such as active learning pedagogy. This study focuses on how personality dynamics of learners at one of the country’s historical black colleges and universities (HBCU) is related to their motivation post active learning pedagogy implementation. Three research questions were put forward. i) Is there a relationship between the personality traits of STEM undergraduates and their self-reported motivational ratings? ii) Can active learning pedagogical intervention improve the motivational ratings of STEM undergraduates? iii) Does personality traits influence the motivational ratings of STEM undergraduate post active learning pedagogical intervention? The study adopted a pre-post design which focused on motivational constructs as well as the curiosity of learners. The Motivated strategy for learning questionnaire (MLSQ) and the validated epistemic curiosity questionnaire were used to collect self-report motivational and curiosity ratings of STEM undergraduates. The study investigates the changes in motivational ratings of STEM undergraduates using inferential statistics based on the outcome of the normality tests. The confidence level of the statistics is set at 95%. The study is in the data analysis phase.

Authors

Adekemisola Olufunmilayo Asahiah http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7363-6742 Morgan State University [biography]

Adekemisola Asahiah is a Doctoral student of Higher Education Administration, Department of Advanced Studies, Leadership and Development, Morgan State University. Her research interests include, research management; policy analysis; implementation and evaluation in Environmental studies and Engineering Education.
Oyinkansola Aladeokin Morgan State University [biography]

Oyinkansola Aladeokin is a doctoral student and teaching fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. She holds a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree in Civil Engineering from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology and a Master of Science (M.Sc) in Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Engineering from Morgan State University. With over a decade of professional experience in infrastructure design and construction, she is passionate about advancing the development of safe, sustainable, and resilient civil infrastructure. Oyinkansola is also dedicated to mentoring and empowering the next generation of civil engineers. Her research spans a wide range of areas, including intelligent transportation systems, traffic safety, student development, and sustainable infrastructure.
Dr. Olushola V. Emiola-Owolabi http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-8521-5769 Morgan State University [biography]

Olushola Emiola-Owolabi is an engineering pedagogy specialist, researching active learning in engineering classrooms and specializing in qualitative methods research on teaching and learning – particularly in remote synchronous learning environments.
Dr. Oludare Adegbola Owolabi P.E. Morgan State University [biography]

Dr. Oludare Owolabi, a professional engineer in Maryland, joined the Morgan State University faculty in 2010. He is the director of the Sustainable Infrastructure Development, Smart Innovation and Resilient Engineering Research Lab, Department of Civil Engineering at Morgan State University.
Hannah Abedoh http://orcid.org/https://0009-0004-9179-878X Morgan State University [biography]

Hannah Abedoh is a highly motivated doctoral student in Business Management, specializing in Information Science and Systems. She is actively engaged in advanced research, focusing on the impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence on learning.
Oluwafisayo Jessica Adeolu Morgan State University [biography]

Oluwafisayo Jessica Adeolu is a Master candidate in Data Analytics and Visualization at Morgan State University and a Research Assistant in the Department of Civil Engineering. Her research focuses on digital equity, higher education outcomes, and data-driven approaches to urban systems which includes traffic noise variability and academic success among underserved populations. With over a decade of professional experience in data analytics, customer experience leadership, and operational management across retail, manufacturing, and supply chain sectors in Nigeria, she brings a practitioner's perspective to her academic work.
Julius Ogaga Etuke http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2710-2803 Morgan State University [biography]

Julius Ogaga Etuke is a seasoned civil engineer and Ph.D. Candidate in Civil Engineering at Morgan State University, where his research focuses on sustainable and resilient infrastructure engineering. With over 15 years of consulting and project leadership experience, primarily in Nigeria's infrastructure landscape, he brings a robust, practical perspective to academic inquiry. His doctoral research is at the cutting edge of transportation resilience, integrating virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), climate adaptation modeling, and data-driven solutions to improve disaster preparedness and risk mitigation in complex transportation systems. As a COREN-registered engineer and member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, his work emphasizes impactful research and consultancy that bridges structural design principles with urgent sustainability and resilience challenges.

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