SỰ gắn kết CỦA SINH VIÊN VÀ mối QUAN hệ với CHẤT LƯỢNG CUỘC SỐNG đại HỌC tt tiếng anh

Research objectives The overall objectives of the research are to unveil: i how cognitive dimensions and personal characteristics including perceived service value, absorptive capacity,

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

Nguyễn Thị Đoan Trân

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND QUALITY OF COLLEGE LIFE

Major: Business administration Code: 9340101

SUMMARY OF DISSERTATION

Ho Chi Minh City - 2020

The research was conducted and completed at University of

Economics Ho Chi Minh city:

Academic advisors:

• Prof Đoàn Thị Hồng Vân

• Assoc Prof Bùi Thanh Tráng

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Problem statement

Over the past decades, higher education institutions (HEIs) have undergone the process of extension and transition, and also confronted

a variety of challenges, both domestically and internationally (Chen, 2016; Dao & Thorpe, 2015; Koszembar-Wiklik, 2016) Technological revolution context and trends will dramatically alter the higher education landscape Colleges, as a result, will no longer enjoy their knowledge provision monopoly, but are supposed to further accentuate their role in inspiring students to show positive learning attitude or educating them in self-training and lifelong pursuit of knowledge As for students, various options are open to them in terms

of locations and methods for knowledge gain Such changes have influenced the way today’s HEIs operate and these are seen as a driving force behind higher education marketing Therefore, the improved quality of training services, learner attraction matters, and other marketing activities to cater for students (also considered direct customers) become more crucial than ever

This very issue has been vividly identified by examining student engagement from the multidirectional perspective, and it is thus recommended for research to ameliorate such substantial consequences as learning outcome or quality of academic life (Kahu, 2013) In this context, the author decides to take account of student engagement based on Fredricks et al.’s (2004) cognitive and emotional dimensions for an investigative study carried out for this thesis

1.2 Research topic

Given existing literature, few studies have explored how student engagement is affected by cognitive dimensions or learner’s personal

characteristics, namely perceived service value, purpose in life, absorptive capacity, and grit While predominantly capturing the impact of external factors (parents, teachers, friends, colleges, etc.) or student perception of external factors (motives, learning missions, familiarity, etc.) on engagement decision, previous studies scarcely consider different factors of personal characteristics Also detected by the author is the fact that several consequences of student engagement,

as documented in most literature, are academic achievement, school dropouts, and student satisfaction, whereas happiness, or quality of school life, has not specifically been considered In this regard, this thesis investigates the topic of student engagement on the basis of the mentioned gap

1.3 Research objectives

The overall objectives of the research are to unveil: (i) how cognitive dimensions and personal characteristics (including perceived service value, absorptive capacity, purpose in life, and grit) affect student engagement; and (ii) the linkage between student engagement and quality of college life

1.4 Research questions

How can cognitive dimensions and personal characteristics be measured and to which extent do they impact student engagement? Besides independent variables, which factors will be explored with their moderating role?

How does student engagement affect quality of college life? Among the four cognitive dimensions and personal characteristics, which has an effect on quality of college life?

Is there any difference in quality of college life between students of different gender and geographical locations?

Do students of different training programs differ in the associations that cognitive dimensions and personal characteristics have with student engagement and quality of college life?

What solutions can be adopted to enhance student engagement and quality of college life?

1.5 Research participants

Survey participants consist of: (i) Full-time first degree students (those devoting most of their daytime to the course of study on a full-time basis); and (ii) Part-time students (those trained at HEIs or affiliated institutes that well meet their demands), including in-service and Master’s students

1.6 Research scope

This research is expected to shed some light on a single scientific matter, which is student engagement in public universities specializing in economics/business education The sample, therefore, will be collected from five top public universities in Vietnam, whose headquarters are based in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, two centers taking a crucial part in training high-quality human resources across the country These comprise National Economics University (NEU), Foreign Trade University (FTU) (main campus), University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH), VNUHCM-University of Economics and Law (UEL), and University of Finance and Marketing (UFM)

1.7 Data and methods

The data are collated from a sample of 1,435 students CFA and SEM are employed to test the research model and hypotheses, respectively

1.8 Significance of the research

First, given theoretical contribution, this study re-tests and adds

to the scale system six dimensions under discussion including perceived service value, absorptive capacity, purpose in life, grit, student engagement, and quality of college life in the current context

of Vietnam’s market The findings are novel, concerning the linkages between cognitive dimensions and personal characteristics (perceived service value, absorptive capacity, purpose in life, grit) and student engagement, and the role of student engagement in their quality of college life The study also highlights the substance of the self-determination and absorptive capacity theories in clarifying the issue

of student engagement in addition to checking the moderating role of the factors of personal characteristics in the association between perceived service value and student engagement Besides, the new research model (with four independent variables, two dependent variables, pure and mixed moderating variables concurrently analyzed using quantitative research methods, control variables, and group moderating variables) underlines the research method contribution Second, with regard to practical contribution, the findings provide the educational management and/or university administrators with some material reference which allows enhanced service value based on learners’ perception, reduced student burnout and dropout rates, increased positive learning, and thus improved quality of college life or greater satisfaction derived from the service obtained This also results in learners’ positive evaluation, recommendation, and promotion of their future’s college Furthermore, the thesis is a general reference work, useful for policy-makers, researchers/practitioners, and others, on student engagement at colleges and universities

2.2 Constructs of the research model

2.2.1 Student engagement

As defined by Fredricks et al (2005) and Yusof et al (2017), student engagement is a meta-construct illustrating how students behave, feel, and think at school It consists of three dimensions: behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement

2.2.2 Perceived service value

LeBlanc and Nguyen (1999) were of the opinion that educational service value, perceived by students, is their overall assessment of the utility of the service provided by HEIs through awareness of what they give and what they get in the process of using the service

2.2.3 Absorptive capacity

Absorptive capacity is such that students gain knowledge from business schools, which includes recognition of the value of the

knowledge, assimilation of it, linking it with the knowledge already possessed, and applying it to their daily tasks (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990; Mariano & Walter, 2015; Tho, 2017)

2.2.4 Purpose in life

The definition of purpose in life is derived from valued goals, which are fundamentally substantial due to providing the purpose to live (Scheier et al., 2006), and therefore in line with the intention to figure out what prompts students to act and maintain their engagement

at colleges and/or universities

2.2.5 Grit

Grit manifests itself through perseverance and passion to accomplish long-term goals or lasting survival ability (Duckworth et al., 2007) It is also shown by attempts to maintain resilience capacity, conscientiousness, self-control, and persistence with problem-solving measures (Bashant, 2014)

2.2.6 Quality of college life

According to Sirgy et al (2007) and Nguyen et al (2012), quality of college life refers to students’ overall satisfaction with college life, or more precisely, their contentment found with educational experiences throughout the years of studying and living at their institutions

to minimize dropouts and improve academic performance as well as

satisfaction on quality of college life, and one of these, which was most commonly employed, is self-determination theory (SDT)

Moreover, according to Ryan and Deci (2017), theoretically, major theories in Western psychology of the twentieth century predominantly highlighted the tendency of an individual, without adequate attention to the idea that each individual is embedded within

a social organization, and the individual within it is integrated more or less Therefore, SDT primary concern is how the universal features of human nature (above all, the basic needs), are expressed in a different and satisfied manner through the cultural context, thereby affecting both personal and social well-being SDT results indicate that the satisfaction of certain desires or actual motives may well be related to illnesses rather than healthiness or well-being (Kasser & Ryan, 2001; Niemiec & Ryan, 2009)

2.3.2 Self-determination theory (SDT)

SDT is an empirically based theory involving human behavior and personality development It principally addresses psychological aspects, classifying various types of motivation that are constantly changing from control to autonomy, and particularly how social context-related factors advocate or hinder an individual's development

by means of fulfillment of basic psychological needs, including competence, relatedness, and autonomy The theory has been centrally applied in different fields such as education, health care, psychotherapy, sports, and the virtual world, examining the social, political, and cultural dimensions influencing human motivation and satisfaction of basic needs (Ryan & Deci, 2017) Specifically, in education SDT aims at motivating learners to take a keen interest in learning, valued education, and confidence in competence and attributes (Deci & Ryan, 1985; Deci et al., 1981)

2.3.3 Six sub-theories of SDT

The six main sub-theories of SDT comprise cognitive evaluation theory (CET), organismic integration theory (OIT), causality orientation theory (COT), basic psychological needs theory (BPNT), goal contents theory (GCT), and relationships motivation theory (RMT)

Specifically, CET posits that intrinsic motivation relates to the performance of a desired action which leads to the natural satisfaction Many a scenario and/or situation enhance or diminish intrinsic motivation Next, OIT seeks to analyze and interpret different levels

of extrinsic motivation in an ascending order of their relative autonomy, namely externally regulated behavior, introjected regulation of behavior, regulation through identification, and integrated regulation The third mini-theory, COT, argues that causality orientation is a tendency to focus on a few environmental aspects and internal competency related to the motivation and causes

of behavior that affect certain motivations, general needs, behavior, experiences, and also the efficiency of human engagement with the surrounding environment and psychological well-being According to BPNT, basic needs are the basis for accelerating the process of: (i) intrinsic motivation, (ii) internalization and integration of behavioral regulation and social regulations and values, bringing about psychological engagement and integrity, and (iii) experiences of wellness and vitality GCT views goals and life aspirations as a source

of motivation that prompts humanity to pursue and achieve their goals and basic need satisfaction, other motivations, and happiness Last, RMT accentuates the role of needs for relatedness, which help individuals in their building, adjusting, maintaining, and enhancing the quality of close relationships with openness through positive experiences and levels of autonomy respect

2.3.3 Absorptive capacity theory

Cohen and Levinthal (1990) successfully proposed the concept

of absorptive capacity as the ability to process knowledge by recognizing value, assimilating it, and applying new knowledge Since then, this concept has been widely utilized and rapidly developed in many fields, both theoretical and empirical research, with more than 1,300 citations and over 600 published articles (Volberda et al., 2010) Thus, the theory of absorptive capacity refers to the ability to identify, acquire, integrate, and apply new inputs to enhance competitiveness (Nguyen, 2017) Absorptive capacity allows employees to identify, learn, and gain new knowledge from external sources essential to their current job (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990) Overall, pioneered by Cohen and Levinthal (1990), the absorptive capacity theory would form a sound basis for substantial arguments for the relationships in the research models involving absorptive capacity (Harvey et al., 2015; Lane et al., 2006)

H7: Student engagement (SE) positively affects quality of college life (QL)

H8: Perceived service value (PSV) positively affects quality of college life (QL)

H9: Purpose in life (PL) positively affects quality of college life (QL)

Additionally, due to the intention to investigate whether any difference exists in the relationships established in the theoretical framework between full-time and part-time students, the study makes the following predictions

P1: The relationship between perceived service value (PSV) and student engagement (SE) of full-time students is weaker than that of part-time students

P2: The relationship between absorptive capacity (AC) and student engagement (SE) of full-time students is weaker than that of part-time students

P3: The relationship between grit (GR) and student engagement (SE) of full-time students is weaker than that of part-time students

P4: The relationship between purpose in life (PL) and student engagement (SE) of full-time students is weaker than that of part-time students

P5: The relationship between student engagement (SE) and quality of college life (QL) of full-time students is stronger than that

of part-time students

P6: The relationship between perceived service value (PSV) and quality of college life (QL) of full-time students is weaker than that of part-time students

P7: The relationship between purpose in life (PL) and quality of college life (QL) of full-time students is weaker than that of part-time students

Student Engagement [SE]

Perceived Service

Value [PSV]

Figure 2.1 Theoretical model

Officially used scales

SEM

STEP 2

-

Final draft scales

Preliminary

quantitative

research (n = 422)

Cronbach's Alpha analysis

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA)

Confidence intervals

Peer/group discussion Adjustments

STEP 3

-

Formal quantitative research (n=1.435)

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)

Results Academic and practical significance

Figure 3.1 Research procedures

(Source: Author’s proposal)