published_or_final_version / abstract / Psychology / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This study was designed to explore the different perceptions of college students' counseling service needs as well as the perceptions of counseling services by the student, faculty, and student affairs staff groups and subgroups of each group. The research approach of this investigation was a case study of one national university in the Republic of China. This study tested seven hypotheses and the major findings are as follows: there were significant differences among students, faculty, and student affairs staff members' perceptions of counseling services in terms of importance and success. Although all three groups agreed that the achievement of the counseling goals were important, the students showed a significantly stronger expectation than did faculty members. Findings related to the success of counseling services in the institution indicated that student affairs staff members showed higher mean scores than did the faculty and students. All three groups perceived a significant discrepancy between the importance of counseling services and the success of counseling services. Moreover, all subgroups of students, as divided by demographic variables, perceived a significant discrepancy between the importance and success of counseling services. All subgroups of faculty and student affairs staff members, except the members of military instructors and members with a mainland China educational background, perceived significant differences between the importance and success of counseling services. The sex, age, class level, academic major, and grade point average of students indicated significant differences either in the importance or the success of counseling services. Likewise, the status, educational background, and degrees earned of faculty and student affairs staff members also showed significant differences in the perceptions of either the importance or the success of counseling services. The study suggested that program planners should be aware of demographic variables when planning counseling programs. Further definitive research is recommended in order to investigate the college student counseling service needs.

Michelle Siu Mui Yik. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 36-43).

Michael Tak-kin Cheng. / Thesis (M.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: leaves 86-91.

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing in Advanced Practice

As one of the most influential constructs in educational psychology, academic motivation represents individuals’ drives and energies to learn; as an emerging construct attracting increasing interest, engagement manifests individuals’ drives and energies, such as the use of self-regulation strategies. However, little existing research simultaneously considers these two groups of constructs within one framework, or takes their antecedents and outcomes into account, especially in regards to Chinese university students. The present study attempts to systematically study motivation and engagement on the basis of social-cognitive motivation theory and achievement orientation theory as a means of unifying substantive and empirical claims. To accomplish these purposes, two studies, each with two parts, have been conducted with Chinese university students as participants. In Study One, Part One explores the factor structure of several instruments – including the Motivation and Engagement Scales-University/College (MES-UC), the Goal Orientation and Learning Strategies Survey (GOALS-S), the Scale of Institution Integration (SII) and the Academic Satisfaction Questionnaire (ASQ) – in half the sample (426 cases). Cross-validation with the other half of the sample is then undertaken (423 cases). Part Two investigates a process model, which includes student multiple motivational beliefs, engagement and educational outcomes through path analysis. The results suggest that students’ work avoidance goal predicts their academic dissatisfaction directly and indirectly via maladaptive engagement; their social concern goal indirectly predicts intellectual development via adaptive engagement; their social approval goal directly influences achievement; and student engagement mediates the impacts of other motivational beliefs on their academic dissatisfaction, intellectual development and achievement. Furthermore, social concern, social approval, social status goals and work avoidance goals are significantly related to motivation and engagement. 　　In Study Two, Part One cross-validates the MES-UC instrument in a new independent sample (836 cases) of Chinese university students. Other instruments including the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Survey (PALS) are also validated. Part Two investigates a process model, which includes classroom goal structure, motivational beliefs, engagement and achievement through path analysis. The results find that the classroom mastery goal structure predicts adaptive and maladaptive engagement via adaptive motivation, and the classroom performance-avoidance goal structure affects maladaptive engagement via personal performance-approach goal orientation and maladaptive motivation In summary, by considering the classroom goal structure as a contextual antecedent and a variety of motivational beliefs as individual antecedents, as well as achievement-related constructs as outcomes, the thesis finds the mediation effect of motivational beliefs between classroom goal structure and student engagement, as well as the mediation effect of engagement between motivational beliefs and achievement-related outcomes. The thesis also summarizes the main contributions, and implications, noting the limitations and pointing out some directions for future research in the field of student motivation and engagement. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The increasing inter-cultural communication in China has led to a growing interest in how the ethnic minorities cope with the encountered main stream (Han)culture of China. The present research compared Tibetan and Han college students studying in a Northwest China province, examining how Tibetan college students acculturated into Han cultural environment concerning their thinking styles, emotion regulation, acculturation strategy, academic performance, and psychological well-being. The present research was composed of a pilot study and a main study. The pilot study was conducted among 105 Tibetan and 147 Han college students studying in a teacher-training university in Northwest China. It aimed at validating the measures that were to be used in the main study, exploring the possible effects that culture might have on thinking styles and emotion regulation, as well as tentatively investigating the relationships among the variables of interest. The main study involved 483 Tibetan students from two nationality universities and 265 Han students from a teacher-training university who responded to the same set of questionnaires validated in the pilot study twice, with an interval of seven months. The quantitative procedure was followed by a qualitative one in which five teachers (one Han and four Tibetans) and eight students (Tibetans who participated in the questionnaire surveys) in the three sampled universities were interviewed. Both the quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed to answer three research questions:1) How and why do the Tibetan students’ thinking styles and emotion regulation change as they study in Han cultural environment? 2) What are the relationships among Tibetan college students’ thinking styles, emotion regulation, and their acculturation strategy? And 3) What roles do thinking style, emotion regulation, and acculturation strategy play in Tibetan college students’ academic performance and psychological well-being? The results suggested that the Tibetan and Han college students did differ from each other in their thinking styles and emotion regulation. Longitudinal data supported that the Tibetan students’ thinking styles, emotion regulation, and acculturation strategy, as well as the relationships among these variables changed across time. Thinking styles, emotion regulation, and acculturation strategy were all found to have direct effects on their psychological well-being and academic performance. The effects of some of the thinking style and emotion regulation variables on psychological well-being and academic performance were also found to be mediated by either or both of the two dimensions of the Tibetan students’ acculturation strategy (i.e., ethnic and dominant society immersions). Meanwhile, the four acculturation strategies (i.e., integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization) were also found to moderate the effects of the thinking styles and emotion regulation on the psychological well-being and academic performance. With the support from the literature and interviews, the quantitative findings were discussed. The findings of the present research would not only provide valuable information on assisting in understanding the development of people’s thinking styles, emotion regulation, and acculturation, but also provide helpful information for the higher education institutions to improve their teaching and management of the ethnic minority students. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

 This study had two aims. The first was to examine the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of Schwartz Values Survey(SVS-58) and Super’s Work Values Inventory (WVI-45) for measuring general and work values of Hong Kong Chinese university students. The second aim was to explore the relationship between ‘general’ and ‘work’ values. The validity and reliability of the two measures were checked using a sample of 211 university students from various subject majors in five universities in Hong Kong. Data collection was facilitated through the help of staff in the Student Affairs Office and in academic departments. Respondents’ participation was voluntary, and their anonymity was ensured. The composite questionnaire used to obtain information contained the Chinese versions of SVS-58 and WVI-45,plus the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Marlowe-Crown Social Desirability Scale. Participants also provided basic demographic information. The same methodology and instruments (SVS with one item deleted and WVI with 3 items removed) were adopted later in the main study involving a larger sample—451 students from seven universities. Results of the pilot study showed that SVS-58was acceptable as a reliable and valid instrument with this population. The reliability of the Hedonism subscale was enhanced by deleting an item. Some of the WVI subscales were found to be unreliable, but the reliabilities increased when 3 problematic items were removed. The construct validity of WVI-42was confirmed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis in the main study sample. In terms of relationships between ‘general’ and ‘work’ values, Roe and Ester (1999) had proposed three possible scenarios: (1) work values and general values are discrete constructs, or (2) work values are a sub-set of general values (as represented in a model developed by Ros, Schwartz, and Surkiss, 1999), or (3) general values are a subset of work values. Due to the lack of well-established theory for studying possibility (3), this study focused on the first two. The main study with a sample of 451 students showed that both scenarios (1) and (2) were to some extent supported by findings from Multidimensional Scaling, Exploratory Factor Analysis, Pearson Correlation Analysis, and Canonical Correlation Analysis. This was in spite of the unexpected results from Hierarchical Cluster Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling. The findings here can therefore be used to suggest a combination of scenarios (1) and (2) as an explanation of the relationship between ‘general’ and ‘work’ values, with work values being both a distinct construct to some extent but closely integrated with general values. Clearly, these findings cannot rule out the possibility of scenario (3). The findings indicate that classifications of general and work values proposed by Roe and Ester (1999) seem not to be mutually exclusive. The findings also provide empirical support for the model proposed by Ros, Schwartz and Surkiss (1999) ―with a theoretical link between general and work values. The implications for career counseling point to a need to include assessments of both general and work values when planning individualized comprehensive career guidance for university clients. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Education