The Effect of Traditional Cultural Literacy on Academic Engagement Among Chinese College Students : The Mediating Role of Academic Self-efficacy, Critical Thinking

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this paper is to propose suggestions to improve the academic engagement of college students and promote their overall development by exploring the influence of traditional cultural literacy on their academic engagement, as well as the role of learning self-efficacy and critical thinking in the relationship between the two. In the specific research, we focused on analyzing the relationship between variables by using various scientific and effective analytical methods, such as independent sample t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), factor analysis, Pearson correlation analysis and regression analysis,etc., to solve the problem of the unclear relationship between traditional cultural literacy and academic engagement, and concluded that the level of college students' traditional cultural literacy has a significant positive impact on their academic engagement, i.e. It is concluded that traditional cultural literacy has a significant positive effect on the academic engagement of college students, i.e., the higher the level of traditional cultural literacy, the higher the level of academic engagement of college students, as well as learning self-efficacy and critical thinking play a mediating role in the relationship between traditional cultural literacy and academic engagement, i.e., traditional cultural literacy enhances academic engagement of college students through the enhancement of learning self-efficacy and Critical Thinking. The research in this paper provides theoretical basis and practical guidance for colleges and universities to improve college students' academic engagement while cultivating their traditional cultural literacy. Specifically, all the ten research hypotheses proposed in this paper about the influence of traditional cultural literacy on college students' academic engagement and the role of learning self-efficacy and critical thinking in the relationship between the two have been successfully verified, and the following key results havebeen obtained. First, this study clarifies the meaning, dimensions, and interrelationships among the four core concepts of traditional cultural literacy, academic engagement, learning self-efficacy, and Critical Thinking, which provides valuable references for subsequent related studies. Although existing studies have explored these variables at some level, there is no consensus on the definition of their structural dimensions, and systematic and in-depth research is still needed. This study effectively clarifies the dimensions of these variables and their interrelationships, and focuses on the internal mechanisms affecting the academic engagement of Chinese college students, i.e., the individual cognitive processes and psychological factors triggered by traditional cultural literacy, which strongly expands the scope of the existing research, provides valuable references to explore practical solutions at the root, and establishes a solid foundation for future in-depth research. It also builds a solid foundation for future in-depth research. Secondly, this study has developed a set of traditional cultural literacy scale specifically for Chinese undergraduates, which has greatly enriched the pool of measurement tools for traditional cultural literacy. Although some scales on traditional cultural literacy already exist in China, these scales generally have a series of shortcomings, such as insufficiently comprehensive content, insufficiently scientific and reasonable structure, and limited scope of application, especially the number of original scales specifically for undergraduates' traditional cultural literacy. Based on the existing representative scales, this study clarifies the four key dimensions of traditional cultural knowledge, traditional cultural identity, traditional cultural practices, traditional cultural exchange. There are four key dimensions of traditional cultural literacy. The newly developed scales successfully met the strict standards of psychometrics in terms of reliability and validity, thus laying a solid foundation for the collection of data for the study of Chinese university students' traditional cultural literacy. Third, this study successfully constructed a theoretical research model that closely links traditional cultural literacy, academic engagement, academic self-efficacy and critical thinking, and regarded academic self-efficacy and critical thinking as mediating variables in the association between traditional cultural literacy and academic engagement among college students. This innovative move fills the gap in the study of the logical relationship between these four variables in previous related studies. Based on the comprehensive verification of the research hypotheses, this study proposes diversified and effective strategies such as actively guiding students to form a good traditional cultural literacy, enhancing academic self-efficacy, and cultivating critical thinking, in order to improve the academic engagement of college students. This study provides a solid theoretical basis and targeted educational suggestions for the cultivation of independent learning behaviors among Chinese university students. In order to improve the quality of education in Chinese higher education institutions, it is necessary to pay great attention to the development of personal literacy and cognitive level of college students, and to fully stimulate their inner psychological motivation to effectively improve academic engagement. Based on the results of this study, educators can actively explore ways to improve academic engagement by enhancing students' traditional cultural literacy, vigorously improving academic self-efficacy, and reinforcing critical thinking, which is expected to open up new perspectives for the overall improvement of the quality of teaching and learning in Chinese higher education. Keywords: College students; Traditional cultural literacy ; Academic engagement; Academic self-efficacy; Critical thinking ; Impact mechanisms

목차 (Table of Contents)

• I. Introduction 1
• 1. Research Necessity 1
• 2. Research Purpose 13
• 3. Research Questions 13
• II. Theoretical Background 14
• 1. Current Situation of Academic Emgagement Among Chinese College Students 14
• 1) Situation of Academic Engagement 14
• 2) Causes of Low Engagement 19
• 2. Theoretical Basis 27
• 1) Input Learning Theory 27
• 2) Self-perception Theory 38
• 3) Critical Thinking Theory 46
• 3. Research Variables 52
• 1) Academic Engagement 52
• 2) College Students Traditional Cultural Literacy 68
• 3) Academic Self-efficacy 83
• 4) Critical Thinking 91
• 5) Relationship between Variables 99
• III. Research Method 123
• 1. Research Process 123
• 2. Modeling 124
• 1) Research Modeling 124
• 2) Hypotheses 126
• 3. Research Participants 127
• 1) Consultation with Experts 127
• 2) Pre-survey Respondents 128
• 3) Official Survey Respondents 134
• 4. Data Collection and Analysis Methods 135
• 1) Literature Collection 135
• 2) Data Collection 137
• 3) Methods of Analysis 139
• 5. Research Tools 141
• 1) University Students Traditional Cultural Literacy 141
• 2) Academic Engagement Scale for College Students 169
• 3) Academic Self-efficacy Scale for College Students 177
• 4) Critical Thinking Scale for College Students 186
• IV. Research Findings 197
• 1. Descriptive Statistical Analysis 197
• 2. Analysis of Variances 198
• 1) Gender 199
• 2) Grade 200
• 3) Siblings 202
• 3. Correlation Analysis 203
• 4. Regression Analysis 206
• 5. Intermediation Effect Test 209
• 6. Direct, Indirect and Total Effects 211
• 7. Summary of Results of Hypothesis Testing 213
• V. Discussion and Conclusions 215
• 1. Summary 215
• 2. Discussion 217
• 1) Compositional Dimensions 218
• 2) Differences 220
• 3) Relevance 222
• 4) Direct Effects 223
• 5) Mediation Effect Test 229
• 3. Conclusion 232
• 4. Limitations and Recommendation 235
• 1) Limitations 235
• 2) Recommendation 236
• 5. Suggestions for Enhancing Academic Engagement Among College Students 238
• References 243
• Appendix 273
• 국문초록 284