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The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the educational concerns that help or hinder the acquisition and practice of intellectual courage. Compared against some more narrow accounts of intellectual courage found in the philosophical literature, this examination broadens the concept of intellectual courage, and illuminates how a motivation for cultivating intellectual courage means being committed to the distinct motivations of other intellectual virtues. Furthermore, intellectual courage has an inseparable moral and epistemic dynamic. Thus an understanding of intellectual courage shows that the beliefs we hold—and the intellectual character we cultivate—directly impact the way life is led in a social environment, and in the classroom. Intellectual courage is the motivation to pursue knowledge despite possible risk, and the skills to navigate such threatening obstacles virtuously.

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Intrinsic motivation, the preferred facilitator of performance, may be a relatively stable trait or specific to a given task. This study compared the computer task performances of 207 children in two schools, on the basis of their teachers' reward practices and the experimental reward conditions. Parents' reward practices, teachers' reward practices, and children's trait intrinsic motivation were measured. Baseline task performance scores and the chosen level of difficulty were statistically higher for children who were higher in the Judgment subscale of trait motivation than for those who scored lower on the Judgment subscale. The trait measure was positively related to most of the game scores and difficulty levels of the task motivation. Higher parent reward usage was related to lower SES and to lower achievement. Higher teacher reward usage was positively related to Grade 1 and to higher levels of difficulty. Children who had usually received rewards or who had not usually received rewards, according to a teacher survey of rewarding attitudes and behaviors, were given a challenging task with (a) no mention of rewards or (b) the promise of a reward. Experimental reward conditions consonant with reward experiences related to higher game scores, especially in Grade 1. Experimental reward conditions which differed from reward experiences related to lower game scores after the experimental condition. All scores were higher for Grade 2, except the number of minutes played. The subjects' choice of level of difficulty tended to increase throughout the three trials. The number of minutes played tended to increase during trials in Grade 1 and to decrease in Grade 2. Affect for the task was higher For Grade 2, higher For girls, and higher for Grade 2 children who were lower on the internal Judgment subscale of trait intrinsic motivation. / Ph. D.

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While research on peer feedback in L2 writing has proliferated over the past two decades, not much is known about how EFL writers, driven by their motives and situated within their social, cultural and historical contexts, participate in group peer feedback of L2 writing. To fill such an important void, the present study investigates six Chinese EFL university students’ participation in group peer feedback activities of L2 writing from a sociocultural and activity theory perspective. Based on sociocultural theory and activity theory in particular, the present study proposes a tentative group peer feedback activity system model and explores Chinese EFL writers’ motives for participating in group peer feedback, how their motives influence group interaction and text revisions, and how they employ mediating strategies to facilitate group interaction and realize their motives during group peer feedback activities. / The study adopts a case study approach with a multiple-case design and collects multiple sources of data including video recordings of peer feedback sessions, semi-structured interviews, stimulated recalls, and drafts of student texts. Six Chinese EFL university students were selected through purposive sampling to participate in the study. Data analyses indicate that EFL students’ group peer feedback activities are driven and defined by their motives and mediated by their social, cultural and historical contexts. The findings revealed four major types of student motives for group peer feedback activities in the writing classroom: (1) feedback-giving and the learning process; (2) feedback-receiving and the learning product; (3) fixing errors in writing; and (4) getting the job done, which were shaped by a myriad of individual and sociocultural factors such as students’ personal belief systems, their secondary education experiences and the exam-oriented learning culture and education system. The study also found that student motives for peer feedback have great influences on students’ stances for group peer feedback and the patterns of group interaction, as well as the text revisions. Driven by different motives, the students were involved in different peer feedback systems in which they took different stances for peer feed-back and interacted differently with their group members, even though some of them were working in the same group and of similar English proficiency level. The study also reveals four major types of mediating strategies in peer feedback activities of L2 writing: artefact-mediated, rule-mediated, community-mediated, and division of labour-mediated strategies. The six students made use of these mediating strategies at different levels to realize their motives in the peer feedback activities. / Informed by the peer feedback activity system and the major findings of the present study, a tentative model to conceptualize the effective peer feedback activity in the EFL writing classroom has been proposed, which serves as a tentative conceptual and pedagogical model for research and practice in peer feedback of L2 writing. This study contributes new knowledge to the field by relating students’ motives to other key elements in peer feedback such as mediating strategies, peer stances, group interaction and student revisions of L2 writing, yielding a deepened understanding of students’ participation in and engagement with peer feedback in EFL writing. / 儘管在二語寫作領域有大量研究關注同伴回饋，但鮮有研究者探討外語寫作學習者如何在其動機的驅使下和社會文化環境的影響下參與小組同伴回饋活動。鑒於此，本研究在社會文化理論和活動理論的基礎上，構建了外語寫作小組同伴回饋活動系統，並以該活動系統為概念框架探究六位中國外語寫作學習者的小組同伴回饋動機，分析其與小組交互和文本修改的關係。本研究還探討外語寫作學習者如何採取仲介策略輔助小組交互和實現回饋動機。 / 本研究採用多案例個案研究的範式，通過目的性抽樣原則，從中國大陸某大學選取六位英語寫作學習者作為被試，收集了多種形式的資料，包括同伴回饋錄影、半結構性訪談、刺激性回憶和寫作文本資料。資料分析顯示外語寫作學習者的小組同伴回饋活動由學生的動機驅使，並受到學生所處的社會文化環境影響。研究發現四種類型的同伴回饋動機：（1）回饋給予與學習過程型；（2）回饋接收與學習結果型；（3）修改文本錯誤型；和（4）完成任務型。這四類同伴回饋動機是在學習者個體因素（如學生的信念、中學學習經歷等）和社會文化因素（如考試取向的教育環境等）的交互影響下形成的。本研究還發現回饋動機對學習者的回饋立場、小組交互模式及其文本修改都會有一定的影響。在不同類型動機的驅使下，即使學習者來自同一小組或英語水準相當，他們也嵌套于不同的同伴回饋系統中，其回饋立場和交互模式也會有所不同。研究還揭示出學生在小組同伴回饋中採用四種仲介策略實現其回饋動機：人工製品仲介策略、規則仲介策略、社群仲介策略和任務分工仲介策略。 / Yu, Shulin. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 255-275). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on 21, December, 2016). / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only.

西方動機研究指出對學習較為理想的動機以自主及內在取向為主。但近年的跨文化動機研究指出，雖然東方社會的學習環境未必對培養內在動機有利，但國際研究 (如：PISA) 指出東方學生的成績較西方學生為佳。 / 本研究邀請249名高中學生於考試前兩周填寫學習動機量度問卷。多層線性回歸分析指出正面的自尊感可預測基於平時分預測以外的中文、英文及數學科考試成績。而中文科及英文科考試成績亦同時受到不同類型的動機概念所影響。 / 本研究亦發現性別與不同程度的自我調控動機的交互影響可影響語文科的考試表現 (中文及英文科)。這些交互影響與考試成績的關係可歸因於女生在學習語文科目時的女性取向及她們在語文科的成績優勢。男生的交互影響則受競爭取向及希望獲取優異考試成績而引致的焦慮所影響，使男生分別在中、英文科成績受到正面(中文)及負面(英文)的影響。 / In Western motivational studies, high achieving and successful students are characterized as autonomous, self-directed, and intrinsically motivated. To optimize learning and academic achievement, Western motivational theories emphasize learning with goals that are aimed at mastering content and developing one's competence. In recent years, many academic achievement studies with international comparisons suggest that East Asian students are often among the top achievers (Hau & Ho, 2010; Li, 2002). In contrast to Western learning environments, the education environment in these East Asian countries, like Hong Kong, Shanghai, Korea is characterized as demanding and exam-oriented. Students' learning is believed to be predominately driven by extrinsic motivation. Such a learning environment is likely to create a less desirable condition for the development of optimal academic motivation in students. Thus, it is surprising to note the latest OECD PISA report (OECD, 2010) showed these Asian countries being ranked highly in academic achievement, occupying the third to fourth rankings among all participating countries. The outstanding achievement of East Asian students has been of great research interest in recent years. Researchers have focused on the cultural factors and socialization processes for explaining the outstanding academic achievement of East Asian students, and have studied how cultural factors and socialization processes contribute to different motivational mechanisms in initiating and sustaining students' academic engagement. / In the present study, a questionnaire which consisted items of self-regulating motivations, goals orientations, contingent self-worth, self-esteem, task value and goal investment were administered to examine how different motivational processes contributed to Hong Kong Chinese high school students' (N=249) academic achievement. Students filled in the questionnaire two weeks before their final examination. Their pre-examination term marks and gender were entered as controlled variables for predicting students’ final examination achievement along with the motivation variables. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that different motivational processes exerted different influences on students' performance in compulsory academic subjects. / Consistent across the three core academic subjects (Chinese, English and Mathematics), the higher one's self-esteem two weeks before their final examination, the greater was his or her achievement on top of what would have been predicted by their term scores. The boosting effect of motivational constructs were also found in the humanities subjects, particularly for English, students with higher performance goal, contingent self-worth, external regulation and lower identified regulation achieved better examination results in respective academic subjects. For Chinese language, higher external regulation predicted better examination achievement. Plausible explanations including cultural influences and relative importance of these subjects in Hong Kong context were discussed. / Findings in the present study also documented interaction effects between gender and self-regulated motivation for humanities examination achievement. Results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that two types of self-regulating motivation interacted with gender on the achievement of different language arts subjects. Findings showed that girls with low introjected regulation achieved much better Chinese examination results than boys did. The interaction effect for the two sexes was relatively smaller for students with higher introjected regulation. / For English language, girls with high identified regulation had better examination results than boys did. The interaction effect for the two sexes was relatively smaller for students with low identified regulation. / The findings confirmed that self-regulating motivation interacted with gender for different academic subjects. In general, language subjects were deemed as feminine orientations, in which girls tend to possess greater internal value towards learning this academic subject, and girls' achievement suffered as heightened introjected regulation externalized self-regulating motivation. Whereas, boys' performance did not suffer as they were more receptive to heightened external regulation and competition. / In the learning of non-native language, achievement in English examination was negatively affected by identified regulation. In a previous study, it was documented that upper-grade students were less motivated in reading than lower-grade students (Lau, 2009a). As there is tremendous pressure for students to master English in Hong Kong, identified regulation may not be a strong propelling force for students' learning two weeks before their final examination. However, the negative effects differed across both genders. As girls enjoy the beneficial effects of feminine orientations and higher language competence, they maintain their identified value for English language and hence relatively similar English achievement levels were observed in girls regardless of the level of identified regulation. Whereas, for boys, the negative impact of identified regulation was more obvious. As boys were found to be more anxious in learning English than their female counterparts in CMI schools (Salili & Lai, 2003), high identified regulation reflected their stronger desire to get good grades or stronger personal importance attached with the subject which in turn heightened their anxiety and adversely affected the boys' achievement. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Wong, Chin-pang. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-119). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese. / Chapter Chapter1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Background of the Study --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Significance of the Study --- p.6 / Chapter Chapter2 --- Review of Literature --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1 --- Approaches of Studying Human Motivation --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Behavioral Approaches --- p.9 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Cognitive Approaches --- p.11 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Summary --- p.13 / Chapter 2.2 --- Major Motivational Theories and Constructs --- p.14 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Atkinson and Achievement Motivation --- p.14 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Weiner and Attribution Theory --- p.16 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Performance Goals and Mastery Goals --- p.19 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Self-Determination Theory --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2.5 --- Gender Differences in Major Motivation Variables --- p.25 / Chapter 2.2.6 --- Summary --- p.28 / Chapter 2.3 --- Effects of Cultural and Contextual Factors on Different Motivational Constructs --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Goal Theory --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Attribution Theory --- p.31 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Self-Determination Theory --- p.34 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- Summary --- p.38 / Chapter 2.4 --- Achievement Motivation in Chinese Societies --- p.41 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Goal Theory in Chinese Societies --- p.43 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Attribution Theory in Chinese Societies --- p.45 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Self Determination Theory in Chinese Societies --- p.49 / Chapter 2.4.4 --- Summary --- p.52 / Chapter Chapter3 --- Method --- p.55 / Chapter 3.1 --- Participants --- p.55 / Chapter 3.2 --- Procedure --- p.55 / Chapter 3.3 --- Measure and Instruments --- p.56 / Chapter 3.4 --- Statistical Analysis --- p.61 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Motivational Processes and Academic Achievement --- p.63 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Gender Differences in Academic Motivation --- p.65 / Chapter Chapter4 --- Results --- p.67 / Chapter 4.1 --- Motivational Processes and Academic Achievement --- p.70 / Chapter 4.2 --- Prediction of Final Chinese Examination --- p.74 / Chapter 4.3 --- Prediction of Final English Examination --- p.77 / Chapter Chapter5 --- Discussion --- p.80 / Chapter 5.1 --- Self in Learning among Chinese --- p.80 / Chapter 5.2 --- Task Engagement (Ego Involve and Task-Oriented) of Chinese Students --- p.83 / Chapter 5.3 --- Chinese Self-Regulating Motivation --- p.88 / Chapter 5.4 --- Self-Regulating Motivation and Gender Differences --- p.94 / Chapter 5.5 --- Conclusion and Implication --- p.102 / Chapter 5.6 --- Limitations and Future Studies --- p.105 / References --- p.108

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1986. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 62-68). Also available in print.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Arizona State University, 1998. / Adviser: Howard Sullivan. Includes bibliographical references.