Daria Benden Why Do Students Struggle With the Transition to Post-Secondary Education in Math Intensive STEM Fields?

Daria Benden has recently completed her doctoral research in educational psychology in the Center for Research on Education and School Development at TU Dortmund University. She has previously pursued her studies at the Bonn Centre for Teacher Education. Benden’s main research interests include motivational trajectories and educational and occupational choices in the STEM domain. Her most recent publications have appeared in Science Direct and the Journal of Educational Psychology.

Area of Research

Higher Education Didactics: Open-Space-Methodology

since 2023

Postdoctoral Researcher Center for Research on Education and School Development TU Dortmund

TU Dortmund

2019-2022

Doctoral Researcher Center for Research on Education and School Development TU Dortmund

TU Dortmund

2017-2019

Doctoral Researcher Bonn Center for Teacher Education University of Bonn

University of Bonn

2017-2022

PhD in Psychology

Center for Research on Education and School Development (IFS) (more details)

Center for Research on Education and School Development (IFS)

2014-2017

Master of Education, Mathematics, Physics, and Educational Sciences

University of Bonn

2011-2014

Bachelor of Science, Mathematics, Physics, and Educational Sciences

University of Bonn

© Jürgen Huhn/ TU Dortmund

Center for Research on Education and School Development (IFS)

Dortmund, Germany

The Center for Research on Education and School Development (IFS) at the TU Dortmund University is committed to all areas of education research – from the description, explanation, and improvement of the organization and management of schools and the school system, to the analysis of educational processes and educational outcomes of students of different age groups in different contexts. Not limited to students, the research takes into account parents, teachers, school administration, and institutional frameworks. A special focus is research into the reform and development processes of schools and the school system, as well as the necessary conditions for these processes and their outcomes.

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Math intensive STEM courses at university have very high dropout rates. In this video, DARIA BENDEN explores some of the factors that underlie this. Conducting a longitudinal study, Benden identifies a sharp motivational drop in the very early days (weeks 2-3) of students’ transition to post secondary education in math intensive STEM fields. She notes that motivation remains stable after this initial shock which tends to coincide with the first feedback received. Benden shows that these initial declines in motivation have a clear impact on exam performance and dropout rates and she encourages further work on how feedback is delivered in order to address the issue.

LT Video Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB101077

Students’ motivational trajectories and academic success in math-intensive study programs: Why short-term motivational assessments matter.

  • Daria K Benden and Fani Lauermann
  • Journal of Educational Psychology
  • Published in 2022
Daria K Benden and Fani Lauermann. "Students’ motivational trajectories and academic success in math-intensive study programs: Why short-term motivational assessments matter." Journal of Educational Psychology 114 (2022): 1062.