Uncover the Secret of Chinese Elite Undergraduates’
Learning Motivation
——An Exploratory Research from Tsinghua University of China
By Yisi Zhan, Wenjing Xia①
Abstract
How to improve students’ learning motivation is always a hot topic in academic advising.
Nowadays with the expansion of China’s higher education and the trend for Chinese students
to study abroad, more and more academic advisors are dealing with Chinese elite
undergraduates. Knowing their learning motivation is the very first and necessary step for
advisors in and out of China. Therefore, it is very important to investigate and explore an
advising strategy to promote the Chinese elite undergraduates’ learning motivation (CEULM).
Based on a high quality Behavior Events Interview (BEI) collected from 16 senior
undergraduates of Tsinghua University, this study describes the different characters of CEULM;
investigates the main factors affect CEULM by a qualitative analysis. Implications and practical
applications for academic advisors will be discussed.
Keywords
Chinese Elite Undergraduates, Learning Motivation, Impact Factors
Track(s)
Student development theory and research, Student Persistence & Retention, International
student advising
Background
Problem of theories explaining motivational process
In psychology and education area, there have been many theories explaining motivational
process. From a cognitive view, motivation is concerned with such issues as why people decide
to act in certain ways and what factors influence the choices they make (e.g. Williams & Burden,
1997). Goal Theory have found that achievement motivation involves a particular class of goals
and these goals appear to fall into two styles: learning goals and performance goals (Dweck &
Yisi Zhan: Tsinghua University, the Center for Student Learning and Development, Assistant director/ Academic
Advisor (E-mail: zhanys@tsinghua.edu.cn); Wenjing Xia: Tsinghua University, the Center for Student Learning and
Development, Counseling Program Manager/ Academic Advisor (E-mail: xiathu09@163.com)
①
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Elliott, 1983; NichoUs, 1984; Nicholls & Dweck, 1979). However, most of the theories are based
on the samples from developed countries and are not perfectly fit for the situation in China.
Decline of the Chinese undergraduates’ learning motivation has become a major threat
Meanwhile with the expansion of Chinese undergraduates’ scale in the world, more and more
advisors are working with cases involved Chinese students. For example, in China, the gross
enrolment rate of undergraduates has been as high as 26.5%, amounting 6,570,000 students
in all in 2010. (Ministry of Education of China, 2012)
Out of China, there were 339,700
Chinese studying abroad in 2011, of which 22.6% were upper secondary graduates. That was
an increase of 55,000 (19.3%) compared with the year 2010, (Ministry of Education of China,
2012) In these cases, the decline of the undergraduates’ learning motivation has become a
major threat to students’ persistence and retention.
Even in China, decline in the overall level of undergraduates’ learning motivation has become
a major cause of threat to their academic success. Even in China, decline in the overall level of
undergraduates’ learning motivation has become a major cause of threat to their academic
success. Some elite undergraduates lost their learning motivation and picked up the
preoccupation with pleasure-seeking, such as being addicted to online games, not to mention
other undergraduates. For academic advisors, how to help them find life goals in order to
increase motivation is the most important task, which is also a very difficult one, consulted by
students at the center for student learning and development of Tsinghua. Therefore, it is very
important to investigate and explore an advising strategy to promote the Chinese elite
undergraduates’ learning motivation (CEULM).
Puzzles for global academic advisors
There are 3 puzzles that many academic advisers all over the world are confused with: (1) Why
don’t Chinese undergraduate like to ask for help when they get into trouble? (2) Why did the
students with high Learning motivation in high school turn out to be tire of study in universities?
(3) Why do most outstanding students worry about their GPA and why is it hard for them to
keep trying until they find their true passion and motivation?
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Research Questions
In order to answer the three puzzles, this study attempts to explore the development of the
process of Chinese Elite Undergraduates’ learning motivation (CEULM). With this presentation,
advisors in different countries will be able to deal with Chinese elite students better. Three
main questions will be answered in this study:
(1)What are the characteristics of CEULM?
(2)What factors will affect CEULM?
(3) For academic advisors, how to help Chinese elite undergraduates promote their learning
motivation?
And for Chinese elite undergraduates themselves , what is the self treatment？
Literature Review
There are many theories in psychology, such as Strengthen Theory, Need hierarchy Theory,
Self-efficacy Theory, Achievement Motivation Theory, Value Expectation Theory, Control Point
Theory, Attribution Theory, Achievement Goal Theory, self-determination Theory and so on.
Need for Achievement consists of three inside drive: (1) cognitive drive; (2) ego-enhancement
need (3) affiliated drive (Ausubel, 1978)
Methodology:
Behavioral Event Interview (BEI)
First proposed by Mcclelland and applied in the US News Agency program. As an open and
exploratory exploration method, it combines the advantages of Critical Incident Method with
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). It is based on this hypothesis：We can’t judge a interviewee
by only his words about his motivation, ability or thoughts. Only when the interviewee’s
experience and key events he dealt with were uncovered, can we get valid analysis.

Three interviewees with strong learning motivation and three with weak motivation
recommended by the support tutor of each major.

The interviewees were not informed of the two groups and which group they belong to

Each interview lasted one or one and a half hours.
Data Analysis
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
Interview materials ：10-20 thousand words/person，180,000 words in total.

2 coders discuss the code list

Data analysis software: Nvivo10
Conclusions
What are the characteristics of CEULM?
1. CEU had strong learning motivation from ego-enhancement need and affiliated drive,
which differs from the situation in MIT. That’s why Chinese students don’t like to ask for
help actively: they are afraid of being looked down on by others；
2. In weak motivation group, the ego-enhancement need and cognitive drive is weaker,
affiliated drive is higher. That’s why students who really need academic support tend not
to use academic services actively: they are afraid of being looked down on by others
3. For female, cognitive drive is stronger, affiliated drive is weaker. That’s why girls tend to use
academic services actively: they are derived by themselves and are not afraid of being looked
down on by others.
4. Question 2：What factors affect CEULM?
There are four main factors that affect CEULM. The following table shows the details.
Level
Key factors
Individual


Family



School


non-cognitive abilities(Interest, Curiosity, Self-regulated,
self-efficacy, emotion regulation, Learning goal setting,
communication )
Cognitive Ability (basic knowledge)
Parents(Model, Parenting, High expectation, Opinion on
their major/career decisions, supervise and urge, support)
Relative Opinions
Family responsibilities and honor
Institutional (Cultivation plan，GPA ranking，the chance to
choose and change major, application for scientific
research projects)
Curriculum (the challenge and amount of work from
courses, Teacher’s positive feedback, teaching style,
homework, exams, autonomous selection of curriculums
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Society

and extra-curricular activities.
Peer pressure (class atmosphere, GPA competition, peer
support）



Job require of major and academic degree
Attention and support from relatives and neighbors
Internship and social experience
1. For CEULM, School factors>Individual factors>Family factors>Society factors.
2. For weak motivation group, the family level factors affect more and the school factor
has less effect.
3. The family-level factors have more negative effects than positive effects.
Compared with the MIT student, factors in family and society level are unique. More details
are showed in the following table.
Level
THU
Key words
MIT
Key words
Individual
Interest, Fresh feeling, Characters
Interest, Fresh feeling, Characters
Family
Expectations from patents, honors and
responsibility of family, views of
relatives
None
School
Cultivation plan, homework ,exams,
peer pressure, teaching style, teacher’s
positive feedback, evaluation standard
homework, exams, peer pressure,
teaching style, teacher’s positive
feedback, evaluation standard
Society
The match between high school and
universities, expectation from family
Job require, internships
Job require, internships
Observation
16 cases
13 cases
Implications for academic advisor
Use Strength-based advising strategies more
1.
Self-affirmation and affirmation from others make one feel safe.
2.
Advising strategies based on one’s advantages.
3.
Find out students in need actively.
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Develop students’ non-cognitive abilities to improve their self-efficacy.
1.
In Chinese culture, peer counseling and tutoring is more effective.
2.
Social development/ self-regulated/Time management skills.
Push Chinese students to be more independent
1.
Let students know their emotional dependence on others (families, teachers, peers).
2.
Establish self-responsibility.
3.
Offer ways and knowledge to promote self-awareness and independent decision-making
skills.
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