Are Scientific Memes Motivating and Does Public Sharing Affect Motivation?

Abstract

In recent years, renewable assignments, or student creations that have value outside of a course, have received considerable attention. However, there is little theoretically grounded inquiry into students’ motivation for renewable assignments such as scientific memes. Moreover, it is unknown how public sharing of renewable assignments affects students’ perceived value and learning from coursework. In addition, public sharing could logically affect students’ pride and anxiety related to the renewable assignment, but this lacks empirical testing. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of public sharing of renewable assignments on students’ perceived value, learning, pride, and anxiety relevant to the assignment. Across five courses, students (N = 102) were randomly assigned to have their scientific memes publicly shared or only shared within the course. Overall, scientific memes were generally considered as high in inherent interest and enjoyableness, moderate in usefulness, and low in levels of anxiety and emotional cost. Students whose scientific memes were publicly shared reported higher levels of perceived learning. There were no reliable differences in perceived value, pride, or anxiety due to public sharing. Overall, instructors may use these findings to inform the use of renewable assignments such as scientific memes in their courses.