Student Engagement: A Useful Quality Concept in the Vietnamese Higher Education System :Doctor of Philosophy - Major: University Education

Student Engagement: A

Useful Quality Concept in

the Vietnamese Higher

Education System

by

NGUYEN THI THU TRANG

BA in Russian, Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and

Humanities, 1990

Master of Education, University of Sydney, 2000

A thesis submitted for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

School of Education

Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences

February 2016

ii

iii

Contents

List of Figures................................................................................................................. viii

List of Tables.................................................................................................................... ix

List of Abbreviations....................................................................................................... xi

Abstract........................................................................................................................... xiii

Declaration .......................................................................................................................xv

Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................... xvi

Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................1

1.1. Statement of the Research Problem ..........................................................................1

1.2. Purpose of the study ...................................................................................................7

1.3. Research questions....................................................................................................10

1.4 Theoretical and Conceptual Framework.................................................................10

1.5 Significance of the study............................................................................................12

1.6 Organisation of the Study .........................................................................................13

Chapter 2: Literature Review.........................................................................................15

2.1 Theory of Student Engagement................................................................................15

2.1.1 Intellectual History of Student Engagement.........................................................15

2.1.2 Definitions of Student Engagement......................................................................17

2.1.3 Factors Critical for Student Engagement..............................................................20

2.1.3.1 Students as the Agents of Engagement..........................................................20

2.1.3.2 Institutions as the Facilitators of Engagement...............................................21

2.1.3.3 Non-institutional Factors ...............................................................................23

2.1.4 The Benefits of Student Engagement ...................................................................24

2.1.5 Limitations of Research on Student Engagement.................................................25

2.1.6 Operational Definition of Student Engagement for this Study.............................28

2.2 Surveys of Student Engagement...............................................................................29

2.2.1 An Overview of NSSE..........................................................................................29

2.2.2 International Versions of NSSE............................................................................32

2.2.3 Benchmarks of Educational Practice ....................................................................35

iv

2.2.4 Critique of Surveys of Student Engagement.........................................................38

2.2.5 Contributions of Surveys of Student Engagement to Higher Education Research

and Practice....................................................................................................................40

2.2.6 The Updated NSSE Survey...................................................................................41

2.3 The Relationship between Student Engagement and Student Outcomes.............44

2.3.1 Definitions, Taxonomies of Student Outcomes and Methods of Measuring

Student Learning Outcomes...........................................................................................44

2.3.2 The Relationships between Student Engagement and Student Outcomes............48

2.4 The Vietnamese Higher Education Context............................................................52

2.4.1 Overview of Vietnamese Higher Education .........................................................52

2.4.1.1 Organisation of Vietnamese Higher Education .............................................52

2.4.1.2 Governance ..............................................................................................56

2.4.1.3 Admission Regulations and Procedures ........................................................59

2.4.1.4 The Vietnamese University Student Body.....................................................60

2.4.2 Vietnamese Undergraduate Educational Practices...............................................61

2.4.2.1 The Undergraduate Curriculum.....................................................................61

2.4.2.2 Teaching and Learning Practices...................................................................64

2.4.2.3 The Assessment Practice ...............................................................................68

2.4.2.4 Institutional Academic and Social Support ...................................................70

2.4.3 The Influence of Cultural Values on Teaching and Learning ..............................73

2.4.3.1 Love for Learning ..........................................................................................74

2.4.3.2 Respect for Teacher and Knowledge .............................................................77

2.4.3.3 Emphasis on Effort in Academic Pursuits.....................................................79

2.4.3.4 The Concept of Face......................................................................................80

2.4.4 Challenges Presented to Vietnamese Higher Education and the Need to Focus on

Student Engagement ......................................................................................................81

2.5. Summary....................................................................................................................85

Chapter 3: Methodology .................................................................................................87

3.1 Methodological Approach and Research Design ....................................................88

v

3.2 Population and Sample..............................................................................................90

3.3 Instrumentation .........................................................................................................93

3.3.1 Modifications to the SEQ .....................................................................................96

3.3.1.1 Deletion..........................................................................................................96

3.3.1.2 Alteration .......................................................................................................97

3.3.1.3 Addition .........................................................................................................98

3.3.1.4 Translation .....................................................................................................99

3.3.2 Validation of the study’s survey form ................................................................100

3.4 Data collection..........................................................................................................101

3.5 Measures of Student Engagement and Student Outcomes..................................103

3.5.1 Measures of Student Engagement.......................................................................103

3.5.2 Outcome Measures .............................................................................................106

3.5.3 Reliability Analyses of Engagement Indicators and Outcome Measures...........109

3.6 Data Analysis............................................................................................................111

3.6.1 Data Preparation .................................................................................................111

3.6.2. Methods of Analysis..........................................................................................113

3.6.2.1 Demographics..............................................................................................113

3.6.2.2 Student Engagement ....................................................................................113

3.6.2.3 Student Perceived Outcomes.......................................................................114

3.6.2.4 Relationship between Student Engagement and Student Perceived Outcomes

.................................................................................................................................114

3.6.2.4.1 Conceptual Framework.........................................................................115

3.6.2.4.2 Questions and Hypotheses....................................................................116

3.6.2.4.3 Statistical Procedures............................................................................117

3.7 Limitations of the Study..........................................................................................125

3.8 Ethical considerations..............................................................................................130

3.9 Summary...................................................................................................................131

Chapter 4: Results .........................................................................................................132

4.1 Demographics...........................................................................................................132

vi

4.2 Student Engagement................................................................................................137

4.2.1 Descriptive statistics...........................................................................................137

4.2.1.1 Experiences with Teaching Staff .................................................................139

4.2.1.2 Academic Challenge ....................................................................................142

4.2.1.3 Collaborative Learning ................................................................................145

4.2.1.4 Campus Environment ..................................................................................146

4.2.1.5 Academic Effort...........................................................................................148

4.2.2 Comparative Statistics ........................................................................................151

4.2.2.1 Comparison of Level of Student Engagement by Gender ...........................151

4.2.2.2 Comparison of Level of Student Engagement across Major Disciplines....155

4.2.2.3 Comparison of Level of Student Engagement by University Groups .........162

4.2.2.4 Comparison between Vietnamese and American Student Engagement......164

4.3 Student perceived outcomes....................................................................................167

4.3.1 General Development Outcomes........................................................................169

4.3.2 Overall Satisfaction.............................................................................................169

4.3.3 General Learning Outcomes...............................................................................170

4.3.4 Work Preparation................................................................................................171

4.3.5 Grades.................................................................................................................172

4.4 Relationship between Student Engagement and Student Perceived Outcomes.172

4.4.1 Relationship between Student Engagement and Students’ Perceived General

Learning Outcomes......................................................................................................173

4.4.2 Relationship between Student Engagement and Students’ Perceived General

Development Outcomes...............................................................................................177

4.4.3 Relationship between Student Engagement and Students’ Grades ....................181

4.4.4 Relationship between Student Engagement and Students’ Work Preparation ...185

4.4.5 Relationship between Student Engagement and Students’ Overall Satisfaction 188

4.5 Summary................................................................................................................197

Chapter 5: Conclusion...................................................................................................201

vii

5.1 Summary of the Study.............................................................................................201

5.2 Implications for Policy and Practice ......................................................................207

5.3 Recommendations for the Improvement of Student Engagement ......................209

5.3.1 Increasing Student Academic Effort...................................................................209

5.3.2 Creating a More Supportive Environment..........................................................211

5.3.3 Improving the Quality of Student Interactions with Different Socialising Agents

on Campus ...................................................................................................................215

5.3.4 Enhancing Collaborative Learning .....................................................................216

5.3.5 Helping Students Set Their Learning Goals .......................................................217

5.4 Recommendations for Future Research ................................................................218

References.......................................................................................................................222

Appendix A Engagement Indicators and Items......................................................255

Appendix B Permission to Use the AUSSE Items...................................................259

Appendix C The College Student Report Item Usage Agreement........................260

Appendix D The Australian Student Engagement Questionnaire ........................262

Appendix E Modifications to the Australian Student Engagement Questionnaire ..

................................................................................................................266

Appendix F The Survey Instrument in English......................................................271

Appendix G The Survey Instrument in Vietnamese...............................................278

Appendix H Engagement Indicators and Outcome Measures Used in this Study ....

................................................................................................................285

Appendix I Human Ethics Approval......................................................................289

Appendix J Frequencies and Percentages of Items within Engagement Indicators.

................................................................................................................290

Appendix K Mean Comparisons of Student Engagement at an Item Level by

Gender...................................................................................................295

Appendix L Comparison between Vietnamese and American Students on

Comparable Engagement Items.........................................................301

Appendix M Frequencies and Percentages of Items within Outcome Scales .......307

viii

List of Figures

Figure 1 Conceptual Elements of Student Engagement and Selected Manifestations .....32

Figure 2 From Benchmarks to New Engagement Indicators and Participation in High￾Impact Practices.................................................................................................................42

Figure 3 The Adapted Version of Astin's Model I-E-O..................................................116

Figure 4 Contributions of the Engagement Indicators to Students' Perceived General

Learning Outcomes and their Standardised Coefficients ................................................177

Figure 5 Contributions of the Engagement Indicators to Students’ Perceived General

Development Outcomes and their Coefficients...............................................................181

Figure 6 Contributions of the Engagement Indicators to Students' Grades and their

Coefficients......................................................................................................................184

Figure 7 Contributions of the Engagement Indicators to Students' Work Preparation and

their Coefficients..............................................................................................................188

Figure 8 Contributions of the Engagement Indicators to Students' Overall Satisfaction

and their Coefficients.......................................................................................................192

ix

List of Tables

Table 1 Universities in Vietnam in 2013 ....................................................................... 54

Table 2 The Number of Participants and the Response Rate of the Participating

Universities................................................................................................................... 102

Table 3 Items Excluded from the 2013 NSSE Engagement Indicators ....................... 105

Table 4 Factor Loadings of Learning Outcome Survey Items..................................... 108

Table 5 Cronbach's Alpha Values for Engagement Indicators .................................... 110

Table 6 Cronbach's Alpha Values for Oucome Measures ........................................... 111

Table 7 Dummy Coding for Categorical Variables ..................................................... 119

Table 8 Tolerance Coefficients and VIF Values of Variables..................................... 120

Table 9 Frequencies and Percentages for Gender, Age and Major Disciplines........... 133

Table 10 Frequencies and Percentages of Gender across Major Disciplines............... 135

Table 11 Frequencies and Percentages for Gender, Age and Major Disciplines in each

Institutional Group ....................................................................................... 136

Table 12 Means and Standard Deviations for Engagement Indicators........................ 138

Table 13a Mean Comparisons on Engagement Composite Score by Gender ............. 152

Table 13b Mean Comparisons across Engagement Indicators by Gender .................. 153

Table 13c Mean Comparisons of Student Engagement at an Item Level by Gender .. 155

Table 14a Means and Standard Deviations of Engagement Indicators across Five Major

Disciplines.................................................................................................. 157

Table 14b One Way Analysis of Variance Summary Table Comparing Five Major

Disciplines on Engagement Indicators ...................................................... 158

Table 14c Statistical Significant Differences in Engagement Indicators between Pairs of

Major Disciplines....................................................................................... 160

Table 15 Mean Comparisons of Engagement Indicators by University Groups ........ 163

Table 16 Five Highest and Five Lowest t Values and Effect Sizes of Comparisons of

Engagement Items between Vietnamese Third Year Students and American

Senior Students............................................................................................. 165

Table 17 Means and Standard Deviations for Outcome Scales................................... 168

Table 18a Pearson Coefficient for Engagement Indicators and General Learning Outcomes

...................................................................................................................................... 174

Table 18b Model Summary ......................................................................................... 175

x

Table 18c Regression Analysis, Coefficients and Collinearity for General Learning

Outcomes ................................................................................................... 176

Table 19a Pearson Coefficients for Engagement Indicators and General Development

Outcomes ………………………………………………………………178

Table 19b Model Summary ........................................................................................ 179

Table 19c Regression Analysis, Coefficients and Collinearity for General Development

Outcomes ................................................................................................... 180

Table 20a Pearson Coefficient for Engagement Indicators and Grades ................... 181

Table 20b Model Summary ........................................................................................ 182

Table 20c Regression Analysis, Coefficients and Collinearity for Grades.................. 183

Table 21a Pearson Coefficients for Engagement Indicators and Students' Work Preparation

...................................................................................................................................... 185

Table 21b Model Summary ........................................................................................ 186

Table 21c Regression Analysis, Coefficients and Collinearity for Work Preparation

..................................................................................................................................... 187

Table 22a Pearson Coefficients for Engagement Indicators and Students' Overall

Satisfaction.................................................................................................................... 189

Table 22b Model Summary ........................................................................................ 190

Table 22c Regression Analysis, Coefficients and Collinearity for Overall Satisfaction ...

...................................................................................................................................... 191

Table 23 Summary of Independent Contribution Made by Predictors to Outcomes... 194