The first year of undergraduate education is a significant transition period. During this time, students are confronted with a variety of new academic and social challenges, which require different emotional abilities so as to support the successful transition in the first year. As such, the study aims to investigate the values of emotional intelligence in facilitating the first year experience. Specifically, a conceptual model is proposed, which postulates that emotional intelligence would have an impact on self-directed learning and student engagement, which in turn, affect the first year learning outcomes. According to Salovey and Mayer (1990), emotional intelligence encompasses the abilities of the appraisal, expression and regulation of the emotions in the self and others as well as the utilization of emotions for problem solving. Its relationship with self-directed learning can be revealed from the analysis of McCombs and Whisler (1989), who suggested that three important elements drive the occurrence of self-directed learning: (i) motivation and positive affect; (ii) self-regulation and (iii) locus of control. They are, indeed, all closely associated with emotional intelligence. Building on abundant evidence showing its relationship with academic study and positive social relationships, emotional intelligence is also expected to influence student engagement. Fredrickson’s (1998, 2001) broaden-and-build theory also lays the ground for the relationship between the two, as it proposed that the experience of positive emotions promotes exploration and approach behaviour, which, in turn, creates more learning opportunities. Individuals who are more emotionally intelligent are better at harnessing positive emotions. A mixed-method approach with two stages of data collection was employed in this study. In stage one, a total of 1760 first year students at a university in Hong Kong responded to a survey measuring emotional intelligence and self-directed learning during the registration period. In stage two, a follow-up survey gauging students’ engagement and learning outcomes was administered to all participants from stage one at the end of the first year, with 560 responses collected in total. Four focus groups with 18 first year participants with high and low levels of emotional intelligence were also used to explore how they differed in terms of their attitudes and behaviours on self-directed learning and student engagement. Structural equation modelling was performed to test the interrelationships among emotional intelligence, self-directed learning and student engagement. The findings affirmed the values of emotional intelligence in influencing self-directed learning and student engagement, which were found to be significantly linked with student learning outcomes. As a whole, the model proposed was able to explain 14% of the variance of GPA and 34% to 40% of the variance of the cognitive, social and self-growth outcomes. The study not only unveils the interrelationships among emotional intelligence, self-directed learning and student engagement, but more importantly, it sheds light on how best to improve the quality of the first year undergraduate education as the findings suggest that the enhancement of emotional intelligence, self-directed learning and student engagement can have direct or indirect effects to desirable learning outcomes. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Little research has been undertaken investigating e-portfolios as a strategy in the development of self-directed learning skills in young learners. This dissertation aims to contribute to this area of research. Self-directed learning is considered an important skill in assisting learners to prepare for a future where the skill set required is undetermined for many roles. Eportfolios have been shown to assist students in development of their reflective thinking and self-assessment skills. Self-assessment and reflection are both key skills in selfdirected learners. Research into e-portfolios has primarily been focused at tertiary level and has not focused on the development of the indicators of self-directed learning. This study is a qualitative case study of four Year 1 students which takes place over three months at a private international school in Hong Kong. The intervention (eportfolio) was introduced into the context of expressive oral reading. Each student produced an e-portfolio documenting their learning. The indicators of self-directed learning were assessed prior to the intervention, during and post intervention through interviews, document and observations. Results strongly indicated that e-portfolios were effective in developing selfdirected learning skills. In particular there was a clear emergence of the indicators intrinsic motivation, self-assessment, ownership of learning and celebration of learning. Surprisingly creativity, self-confidence, and self-esteem also emerged to significant levels. It was concluded that e-portfolios were an effective way to develop self-directed learning skills. It is recommended that e-portfolios are used with young learners as an effective way of engaging students in their own learning process. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

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

羅嘉怡. / 論文(哲學碩士)--香港中文大學, 1998. / 參考文獻: leaves 71-79. / 中英文摘要. / Luo Jiayi. / 表目次 --- p.iii / Chapter 第一章 --- 引言 / Chapter 一 --- 研究動機 --- p.1 / Chapter 二 --- 研究目的 --- p.12 / Chapter 三 --- 研究意義 --- p.13 / Chapter 第二章 --- 文獻回顧 / Chapter 一 --- 目標取向 --- p.16 / Chapter 二 --- 自我效能 --- p.20 / Chapter 三 --- 自我調控的學習策略 --- p.24 / Chapter 第三章 --- 研究設計 / Chapter 一 --- 研究對象與取樣方法 --- p.33 / Chapter 二 --- 研究工具 --- p.35 / Chapter 三 --- 資料搜集過程 --- p.38 / Chapter 四. --- 研究假設 --- p.40 / Chapter 五. --- 重要名詞演譯 --- p.41 / Chapter 六. --- 研究限制 --- p.43 / Chapter 第四章 --- 研究結果 / Chapter 一 --- 各量表的信度分析 --- p.44 / Chapter 二 --- 研究對象的閱讀理解成绩及各量表的平均數、標準差 --- p.46 / Chapter 三 --- 閱讀理解成績及各變項的關係 --- p.49 / Chapter 四 --- 各變項對學生的閱讀理解測驗成績的預測力 --- p.53 / Chapter 第五章 --- 研究結論討論與建議 / Chapter 一 --- 研究發現 --- p.59 / Chapter 二 --- 討論 --- p.63 / Chapter 三 --- 建議 --- p.68 / 參考文獻 / 英文參考文獻 --- p.71 / 中文參考文獻 --- p.11 / 附件一 --- p.80 / 附件二 --- p.89