Attitudes towards Digital Educational Technologies among University Students of Different Fields of Study: Role of Academic Motivation and Personality Traits

Numerous research in recent years has focused on the pros and cons of using digital technologies in education. It has been established that difficulties associated with the digital transformation of education are determined not only by objective reasons, but also by the psychological characteristics of participants in the educational process and their attitudes towards digital educational technologies (DETs). The purpose of present study is to identify differences both in the attitudes towards DETs, and in the correlation of these attitudes’ indicators with personality traits and academic motivation between university students of different fields of study. The study involved 362 students (90.05% females), including 199 Psychology and 163 Philology students of RUDN University. Students’ attitudes towards DET were measured with The Attitudes towards DETs Scale for University Students based on the Tripartite Model of Attitudes. The educational motivation of students was measured with The Academic Motivation Scales based on Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory. The personality traits were measured with the short version of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory. The research findings show that the differences between Psychology and Philology students appear not so much in their attitudes towards DETs, but in the correlations and regression models of the studied variables. The most significant predictors of the attitudes towards DETs are Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Motivation for personal growth in psychologists, and Openness, Extraversion and Intrinsic cognition motivation in philologists.