Research Into Undergraduates' Student Engagement In The View Of "Mind-Virtue"

The comparative results of Chinese and Western undergraduates' student engagement are consistent with the different learning models in East and West:the characteristics of western student engagement reflect the mind-oriented model of pursuing mental development,critical thinking,self-expression and communication,and Chinese undergraduates' performance on student engagement reflect the virtue-oriented model of serious and diligent learning that advocated by Chinese traditional culture.Based on the previous researches,this study explores the student engagement of 4060 undergraduates in the view of "mind-virtue" in five independent colleges of Jiangsu Province.The main contents of this study include the composition of mind-oriented and virtue-oriented engagement,the relationship between student engagement and learning outcomes,the types of students with different engagement characteristics,the learning outcomes of different types of students,and the differences in engagement of students with different background features.By analyzing the data with SPSS 19.0 and AMOS21.0 software and integrating with the related researches,this study gets five conclusions.1.Mind-oriented and virtue-oriented engagement have a positive effect on the undergraduates' learning outcomes,but the relationship between student engagement and different types of learning outcomes is different.On the whole,the influence of mind-oriented engagement on creative thinking is great,and virtue-oriented engagement has great influence on academic record,2.The findings of this study and the related researches have shown that Chinese undergraduates have a low level of mind-oriented engagement and a high level of virtue orientation.3.The deep approach is an important mediator between student engagement and learning outcomes,which has an important positive effect on the undergraduates' achievements.4.Based on the different performance on mind-oriented and virtue-oriented engagement,the undergraduates can be divided into four types,and comprehensive students who featuring high-level of both mind-oriented and virtue-oriented engagement have the best learning outcomes.It is the key to improve the quality of higher education to cultivate more comprehensive students.5.Undergraduates with different backgrounds have different performance on student engagement.For example,males,higher grades,non-first-generation undergraduates' scores of mind-oriented engagement are better than females,lower grades and first-generation ones respectively,while females,higher grades undergraduates' scores of virtue orientation are better than males,lower-grade groups.The first-generation undergraduates and non-first generation ones have a similar level of virtue-oriented engagement,but the former's performance on mind-oriented engagement is obviously worse than the latter's.The reasons about these differences are worthy of further research.From the above conclusions,this study gives the following suggestions.First,we should create a learning environment that can stimulate deep thinking,and strive to improve the level of mind-oriented engagement.Secondly,it is important to understand the characteristics and laws of Chinese undergraduates' student engagement,and we need to carry out more localized researches to accomplish it.Thirdly,we should also use a wide range of evaluation methods,and evaluate undergraduates' achievements more comprehensively.Fourthly,relevant polices and measures should pay attention to the targeted and fair on different undergraduates' groups with different background features.At the end of this paper,there are some discussions about defects of this study,as well as the prospects for the future research of undergraduates' student engagement.