ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicCreating Powerful AI Learning Environments to Foster Effective Learning and Instruction for AllView all 3 articles
A Study on the Impact of Project-Based Learning on Students' Learning Motivation in Animation Programs
Provisionally accepted
Chang Lin*
Qiuwan Zhang- Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Guangzhou, China
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Project-based learning (PBL) is widely used instructional approach in animation education. This study examines students’ perceptions and attitudes toward the implementation of PBL, as well as their learning motivation, taking animation majors in China as the research context. A questionnaire survey of 319 participants, including undergraduate students and recent graduates majoring in animation was conducted using the PBL scale and the learning motivation scale. Correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were utilized to investigate the impact. The results revealed a significant positive relationship between students’ perceived PBL experiences and students' learning motivation. Specifically, problem-driven had a stronger effect on students' challenge, enthusiasm, reliance on others' evaluation, preference for simple tasks, and focus on interpersonal competition; project design had a significant positive impact on students' preference for simple tasks and focus on interpersonal competition; project implementation positively influenced students' enthusiasm. Moreover, the study results not only enrich the understanding of PBL between students' learning motivation, but also provide references for improving the instructional effectiveness of PBL. Practical discussions are proposed on the results.
Keywords: Animation teaching, project-based learning, Learning motivation, Curriculum reform, Animation majors
Received: 10 Oct 2025; Accepted: 08 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lin and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chang Lin
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