Vietnamese university students' academic motivation

Abstract

Since 2005, a comprehensive reform agenda has been implemented in Vietnam aimed at improving the quality of higher education and of university graduates. While there has been a rapid expansion in participation in higher education, there are strong concerns regarding the preparedness of students and their overall employability. Strategies have been identified to address these concerns; however, the issue of student motivation has not been considered. This study, guided by self-determination theory, addressed this gap by exploring Vietnamese university students’ motivation including both motivation for daily study and, more broadly, motivation to pursue university education. Guided by self-determination theory, a macrotheory of motivation, and conducted at a high-ranking, multidisciplinary university in Hanoi, this study employed a convergent parallel mixed methods research design. A total of 678 first-year students were surveyed. The survey instrument, based on the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) (Vallerand et al., 1992, 1993), collected data to (a) assess both quantity and quality of students’ ongoing motivation, (b) examine the effects of demographic characteristics on students’ ongoing motivation, and (c) test the psychometric properties of the AMS in the current sample. Additionally, 14 students from Years 2 to 4 participated in 1:1 interviews focusing on their motivation around undertaking university education, degree choice, and ongoing motivation for study. The results of descriptive analysis of 648 surveys revealed that Vietnamese students in this study had relatively low levels of self-determination in their daily study. These students exhibited higher levels of extrinsic motivation than intrinsic motivation, and were most highly motivated to study for reasons relating to future employment, although many demonstrated levels of amotivation. A confirmatory factor analysis was carried out to assess the appropriateness of the AMS in assessing Vietnamese students’ motivation. The results revealed that the 7-factor AMS with 23 items out of the original 28 items fitted the data well. The revised AMS exhibited satisfactory levels of reliability and validity. The results of the MANOVA to investigate the effects of demographic characteristics on students’ ongoing motivation showed a complex combination to family (including educational background and financial capacity) as well as those related to the individual (including gender and major). A thematic analysis of the interviews was used to investigate the relationship between students’ ongoing motivation and their original motivation for pursuing university education. This analysis supported results from previous studies and of the MANOVA. The students who were interviewed attended university for both economic and non-economic reasons. These students chose degree programs based on their own interests, family opinions, and social trends. The initial motivation for these students to attend university transformed into academic goals and influenced students’ motivation to a large extent. Many students reported a change in motivation between Year 1 and Year 2, and the first-year experience had an important role in understanding this change. This study will make a significant contribution to theory as well as practice. The AMS has never been tested in Vietnam, and the reliability of its application in a collectivist culture is a substantial contribution to our understanding of self-determination theory. In practice, the findings of this thesis will enable administrators and educators to design appropriate measures to enhance students’ motivation and will contribute to the quality of the higher education experience. Given the context in which higher education in Vietnam exists, revealing the complex connections between the collectivist culture and individual motivation has potential to guide the reform agenda and, ultimately, contribute to student learning.