Following the publication of Perry and Wise’s essay on public service motivation (PSM) in 1990 and Perry’s PSM measurement scale in 1996, the concept of public service motivation has attracted wide attention and empirical research on its definition, measurement and incidence in the past twenty years. However, little empirical research has been conducted on PSM in Hong Kong. This research is intended to examine the dimensionality and generalizability of PSM in Hong Kong by using self-administered survey instruments with two groups of different respondents. Group 1 consisted of 55 students of Master of Public Administration of the University of Hong Kong (mostly full time public servants) whilst Group 2 consisted of 78 undergraduates from different faculties in the same university. Two separate survey instruments were used for group 1 and group 2 respondents. All 40 items of Perry’s PSM dimensions were included in the two survey instruments with additional 7 items and 8 items added for group 1 and group 2 respectively. The additional items were introduced to measure the relationship of variables including organizational commitment and job expectation and PSM dimensions. The findings did not reveal the PSM level of group 1 was higher than group 2. However, females were found having relatively higher PSM level than males under the dimension of Attraction to Public Policy Making. The independent variable of Organization Commitment was strongly and positively correlated with the dimensions of Commitment to Public Interest, Civic Duty and Self Sacrifice while Job Expectation was strongly and positively correlated with the dimensions of Attraction to Public Policy Making, Social Justice, Civic Duty and Self Sacrifice. This research contributed to provide better understanding and knowledge of PSM in the Hong Kong context especially on the influence of the independent variables of organizational commitment and job expectation on PSM dimensions. / published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

The purpose of this research was to investigate the nature of thinking styles as it relates to style value and style malleability through examining the relationships between thinking styles, motivational orientations, and academic achievement in learning physics among secondary school students in Hong Kong. Specifically, the research aimed to determine whether or not teaching styles change students’ thinking styles, and if so, the association of these changes on students’ motivational orientations; and to determine the extent to which motivational orientations and thinking styles link academic achievement in physics. This quantitative research employed a quasi-experimental longitudinal design and was composed of one pilot study and one main study. The pilot study purposed to evaluate the two inventories used in the main study: the Motivational Orientation Scales in Learning Physics (MOSLP) and the Thinking Styles Inventory Revised II (TSI-R2). A total of 76 secondary school students participated in the pilot study. Results revealed that the MOSLP and the TSI-R2 were applicable to Hong Kong school students. The main study was an experimental study aimed at determining the impact of teaching styles on students’ thinking styles, motivational orientations, and academic achievement in physics. A total of six teachers and 449 secondary students constituted the experimental group, and five teachers and 347 students constituted the control group. The intervention, involved students in physics lessons instructed under Type I teaching styles, was implemented in each participating teacher’s school for one semester. Pre-and post-tests were conducted, in which students’ thinking styles and motivational orientations were measured by the TSI-R2 and the MOSLP respectively. Students’ physics examination results were also collected at the time of the post-test. A series of statistical analyses were conducted to reveal the effects of thinking styles on motivational orientations, to identify changes in students’ thinking styles, and to determine their relationships with academic achievement in both the experimental and control groups. Overall results demonstrated that Type I thinking styles were positively associated with task orientation and negatively connected with work avoidance orientation, thus which indicated adaptive value of Type I styles; Type II styles were not particularly associated with any of the motivational orientation scales, which suggested that they were value-differentiated; and Type III styles were found to be associated with ego orientation (in the pre-test), which suggested that they had less adaptive value. Moreover, students in the experimental group unexpectedly demonstrated a decreasing trend in their use of some Type I styles, some maladaptive Type II styles, and some Type III thinking styles for learning physics, whereas students in the control group decreased their use of some Type III thinking styles. Also, reduction in ego orientation among students in the experimental group was found to be greater than that of the control group. Finally, results demonstrated that teaching styles played a mediating role in boosting academic achievement. Students in the experiment and control groups studying in different forms modified either their thinking styles or motivational orientations. The magnitudes of these changes positively associated with students’ levels of achievement in physics. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

published_or_final_version / Management Studies / Master / Master of Business Administration

published_or_final_version / Japanese Studies / Master / Master of Philosophy

"March 2003." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 238-258). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

by Hui Hing Fai. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-76). / Table of Contents --- p.1 / List of Figures --- p.3 / List of Tables --- p.4 / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.5 / Purpose of the study --- p.5 / Significance of the study --- p.6 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Implicit Theory of Intelligence and Achievement Goals --- p.8 / Achievement goals --- p.8 / Chapter - --- Learning and performance goals --- p.8 / Chapter - --- Work avoidance goal --- p.10 / Implicit theory of intelligence --- p.13 / Chapter - --- Helpless and mastery-oriented children --- p.14 / Chapter - --- Adoption of different achievement goals --- p.15 / Chapter - --- The effects of implicit theory of intelligence on the achievement goals --- p.17 / Chapter - --- Implicit theory of intelligence in classroom environments --- p.18 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Effects of Achievement Goals on Motivational Behavior --- p.21 / Achievement goals and learning strategies --- p.22 / Chapter - --- Effective learning strategies --- p.22 / Chapter - --- Deep and surface level strategies --- p.24 / Chapter - --- Active and superficial cognitive engagement --- p.26 / "Achievement goals, satisfaction and task choice" --- p.28 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Framework of the Study --- p.31 / Incremental theory of intelligence and achievement goals --- p.31 / Achievement goals and learning strategies --- p.32 / "Achievement goals, boredom and choice of easy task" --- p.34 / Conceptual model --- p.35 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Research Method --- p.37 / Variables --- p.37 / Hypotheses --- p.38 / Samples --- p.40 / Procedures --- p.40 / Instruments --- p.41 / Statistical analyses --- p.43 / Chapter - --- Preliminary analyses --- p.43 / Chapter - --- Correlations --- p.43 / Chapter - --- Structural equation modeling --- p.44 / Chapter - --- Cross-validation --- p.45 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Results --- p.47 / Items analysis and factor structure of instrument --- p.47 / Correlatons among variables --- p.51 / Structural relations --- p.52 / Cross validity --- p.57 / Chapter Chapter 7 --- Discussion --- p.60 / The validity of the work avoidance goal --- p.60 / Relations between incremental theory of intelligence and achievement goals --- p.61 / Relations between achievement goals and motivational behavior --- p.62 / Differences between grade 7 and grade 9 students --- p.64 / Implication of the findings --- p.66 / Limitations of the study --- p.67 / References --- p.70 / Appendix1 --- p.77 / Appendix2 --- p.79

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences