The COVID-19 pandemic has created substantial challenges across higher education, requiring academic institutes to conduct all teaching, learning, and assessments remotely online. To obtain a stronger understanding of the opinions of teachers and students in Hong Kong during this period, an anonymous online survey was distributed to all teachers and students at a higher education institute. Overall, 48 teachers and 425 students responded to the survey. This paper specifically analyzes the responses to open-ended questions from the survey to identify key topics and concepts. Open coding was used to obtain key terms, which were further grouped into categories. Results indicated that higher education teachers and students had similar issues (e.g., access to digital devices and software) and benefits (e.g., flexible scheduling and time arrangements) regarding online education. However, some categories were reported as both issues and benefits by teachers and students (e.g., communication/interaction), demonstrating that individual circumstances, abilities, preferences, and experiences, may influence satisfaction levels. Furthermore, results indicated that the delivery of quality online education enforced during a pandemic requires a multi-factorial and tailored approach. The information presented in this study will help higher education institutes to develop, redefine, and re-conceptualize online learning initiatives. Copyright © 2021 The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Education

Drawing upon the multifaceted construct of motivation and engagement, this study used the adapted Motivation and Engagement Scale for University/College Students (MES-UC) (Martin, 2007, 2008b, 2012) to examine English-majored undergraduate students' motivation and engagement in Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) writing classes. A sample of 1190 students from 35 Chinese universities participated in this study. Results showed that students were generally motivated to write in English and engaged in the second language (L2) writing courses. Individual differences (Le., gender, grade, region, colleges' prestige, and colleges' profession) in L2 writing motivation and engagement also were identified. Three distinct profiles of L2 learners' motivation and engagement were identified: the "Motivated and engaged", the "Ambiguously motivated and engaged", and the "Ambivalently motivated and engaged" L2 writers. The findings shed new light on the nature of Chinese English-majored undergraduates' motivation and engagement in EFL writing contexts.
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