The research on motivational factors of higher education students' participation in group assignments

Group assignments are vital in higher education worldwide, however, the convenience of AI software and the unfairness of group contributions may undermine higher education students' motivation for participating in group assignments. The aim of this research was to find out motivational factors of improving students' engagement in group assignments. The research adopted both qualitative online interviews through WeChat and quantitative online questionnaires through Wenjuanxing. The research was conducted among 211 students who majored in Business Administration of a private university in China, with 52 students participating in online interviews and 186 students responding to online questionnaires respectively. The research showed that higher education students counted intrinsic motivational factors including responsible and communicative team members, interesting and challenging group assignments, and team progress recognition, as well as extrinsic motivational factor like grades a lot. Assignments with the flexibility to choose team members, interesting and challenging nature, team honor and progress awards, and a fairer scoring system could enhance students' participation and engagement in group assignments.