The present study investigated multidimensional motivation and engagement among Chinese middle school students in Australia (N = 273), Hong Kong (N = 528), and Mainland China (N = 2106; randomly selected N = 528). Findings showed that a multidimensional model of motivation and engagement fit very well for all three groups. Multi-group invariance tests showed that the number of factors, factor loadings, factor correlations and item uniquenesses were invariant across the three groups - as were inter-correlations with a set of cognate correlates (class participation, school enjoyment, positive intentions, academic buoyancy) - hence no differences of 'kind'. However, differences of 'degree' were indicated through significant mean-level effects between groups, with self-reports favouring Australian Chinese students over Hong Kong and (to a lesser extent) Mainland Chinese students. We propose these findings shed important light on Chinese students' academic motivation and engagement and also on socio-cultural perspectives on motivation and engagement because they assist understanding about effects attributable to context and effects attributable to ethnicity. Given this, the study is a timely contribution to current understanding of the Chinese learner in this, the 'Asian Century'.
[Copyright of Educational Psychology is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2013.814199]

Students' beliefs, attitudes, experiences and responses towards assessment reflect the ecology of their specific context. The study examines Hong Kong tertiary students' conceptions of assessment using focus group interviews and the content analysis technique. Using six focus groups, 26 Hong Kong university students were interviewed. Hong Kong tertiary students associated assessment with lifelong high-stake examinations. The assessment determined an individual's personal value or worth and achievement was an obligation one had towards one's family. As a legitimate tool for selecting the best candidates for educational and career opportunities, assessment provided upward social mobility, but also served the function of monitoring and surveillance to shape people's behaviour according to societal expectations. Resilience was reflected in both self-regulative agentic responses of effort, persistence and gaming strategy and passive escaping from the oppressive assessment system. The general emotional reaction towards assessment was negative; and participants cast doubts on the assessment validity, accuracy and the limited utility confined by academic-only content. In addition to the portrayal of the Chinese student as an effective, persistent learner, this study shows that Chinese students are very aware of the negative, controlling impact of assessment on their lives.
[Copyright of Higher Education Research & Development is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2014.890565]

Based on self-reported cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioural strategy measures obtained from 828 final-year students from a university in Hong Kong, latent profile analysis (LPA) identified four distinct types of students with differential self-regulated learning strategy orientations: competent self-regulated learners, cognitive-oriented self-regulated learners, behavioural-oriented self-regulated learners, and minimal self-regulated learners. Students in the competent SRL profile demonstrated the highest levels of academic self-concept, motivation, attitude, and the lowest level of test anxiety and best academic performance. Multinomial logistic regression analysis also indicated that learning experience factors (teaching quality, clear goals and standards, appropriate assessment and workload) were significant predictors of SRL profile membership. The profiling of student self-regulated learning strategies resulted in enhanced understanding of the complex range of processes students employ and offered new insights into this emerging area of student learning.
[Copyright of Studies in Higher Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2014.880832]

How students understand, feel about and respond to assessment might contribute significantly to learning behaviour and academic achievement. This paper reviews studies that have used a relatively new self-reported survey questionnaire (Students' Conceptions of Assessment - SCoA) about student perceptions and understandings of assessment. Confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modelling results have shown, consistent with self-regulation theory, that the SCoA inventory has meaningful relations with academic performance among New Zealand high school students. Further, German, Hong Kong, American, and New Zealand studies have shown that the SCoA has relations to motivational constructs (e. g. effort, learning strategies, interest, self-efficacy and anxiety) that are also consistent with self-regulation. The SCoA inventory extends our understanding of how student conceptions of assessment are an integral part of self-regulation and provide a warrant for use in research studies investigating test-taker responses to assessment practices and innovations at both university and high school levels.
[Copyright of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2011.599836]