TTLA: Learning motivation of ethnic minority students

1. Full name of doctoral candidate: Pham Van Hue 2. Gender: Male

3. Date of birth: August 23, 1986 4. Place of birth: Nam Dinh
5. Decision on the admission of doctoral students: Decision No. 2775/2020/QD-XHNV dated December 31, 2020, of the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
6. Changes to the training process (if any):
7. Thesis title: Learning motivation of ethnic minority students
8. Major: Psychology 9. Code: 9310401.01
10. Scientific supervisors: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Luot and Dr. Nguyen Ba Dat
11. Summary of the new findings of the thesis:

- Research objectivesThis study examines the theoretical and practical aspects of learning motivation among ethnic minority students, the factors influencing their motivation, and, based on this, proposes recommendations to enhance their learning motivation.

- Research subject: Learning motivation and factors influencing learning motivation among ethnic minority students.
- Research methods used: Documentary research method, questionnaire survey method, in-depth interview method, case study method, and data processing method using mathematical statistics.
- Key results
Building upon and systematizing research from around the world and in Vietnam, this study has defined the concept of learning motivation among ethnic minority students. Learning motivation is the driving force that satisfies the diverse needs in the learning activities of ethnic minority students. It activates, guides, empowers, and sustains their learning through intrinsic, extrinsic, and non-intrinsic motivations. This concept is shaped by Deci and Ryan's theory of self-determination. Simultaneously, the thesis identifies factors influencing the learning motivation of ethnic minority students, including the learning environment, cultural harmony, multifaceted social support (from family, friends, and special needs), discrimination, and digital literacy.
+ The survey results on 517 ethnic minority students showed that the majority of ethnic minority students had a high level of motivation (high internal motivation, high external motivation, and low lack of motivation).The high positive correlation between internal and external motivation indicates that when the internal motivation of ethnic minority students is high, their external motivation is also high, and vice versa, with external motivation being stronger than internal motivation. The results also show that the majority of ethnic minority students have a high level of consistent external motivation and are oriented towards future career opportunities.
The study also revealed differences in intrinsic and extrinsic motivation based on gender, ethnicity, and academic performance. Simultaneously, single students showed higher intrinsic motivation than students in relationships. Furthermore, the lack of motivation among ethnic minority students varied by school and ethnicity. The study also indicated no significant differences in motivation among student groups based on birthplace, economic conditions, birth order, or course of study. The results showed that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation positively impacted the academic performance of ethnic minority students. However, lack of motivation did not affect their academic results.
The study also indicated that many factors influence the learning motivation of ethnic minority students. Among them, the learning environment and social support received strongly impact both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Additionally, discrimination and cultural integration affect the lack of motivation among ethnic minority students.
+ Case studies have clarified the manifestations of learning motivation and pointed out the impacts of learning environment factors and social support received on the learning motivation of ethnic minority students.
+ The thesis also offers several recommendations to help maintain and enhance learning motivation for ethnic minority students themselves, their families, and universities with ethnic minority students.
- Novel contributions of the thesis
+ In terms ofreasoning
(1). The thesis has systematized studies in the world and Vietnam and built basic concepts such as: learning motivation, learning motivation of ethnic minority students.
(2). The thesis has shown the manifestations of learning motivation of ethnic minority students through the forms of motivation: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and lack of motivation.
(3). The thesis has identified the factors affecting the learning motivation of ethnic minority students, including the learning environment at the university level; cultural harmony of ethnic minority students; social support ethnic minority students receive from family, friends and special people who are meaningful to them; daily discrimination and digital skills that ethnic minority students need to have to be able to study at university.
+ In practical terms
(1). The thesis has surveyed and evaluated the current state of learning motivation of ethnic minority students through the forms of motivation: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and non-motivation; Point out the differences in intrinsic and extrinsic learning motivation according to gender, ethnicity and learning outcomes and non-motivation according to school and ethnicity.Simultaneously,Both external and internal motivations have a positive impact on the academic performance of ethnic minority students.
(2). The thesis has shown that there are many factors affecting the learning motivation of ethnic minority students, in which the learning environment and social support received are factors that strongly influence the internal and external learning motivation of ethnic minority students. The factors of discrimination and cultural integration affect the motivation of ethnic minority students.
(3). The thesis also makes some recommendations on solutions to help maintain and improve the learning motivation of ethnic minority students.
- Conclusion: The thesis has successfully implemented the basic contents and steps in the research. It has reviewed existing studies, established a theoretical framework, defined a research model with influencing factors, and conducted surveys. The research objective of assessing the current state of learning motivation and the factors influencing it among ethnic minority students has been achieved. The research results suggest several recommendations to maintain and enhance the learning motivation of ethnic minority students.
12. Directions for further research:
- Conduct comparative research to highlight the differences in learning motivation between majority students and ethnic minority students.
- Conduct qualitative research, focusing on specific ethnic minority groups to identify the characteristics of each sample group of ethnic minority students. Conduct in-depth interviews with students' families to gain a multifaceted and realistic perspective on the learning motivations of ethnic minority students and, from there, propose highly practical recommendations.
- Conduct research to examine the mechanisms by which learning motivation impacts the academic performance of ethnic minority students.
13. Publications related to the dissertation:
1. Pham Van Hue (2021), “The current state of learning motivation of students in social sciences and humanities”, Vietnam Psychology Journal (06), pp. 16-29.
2. Pham Van Hue (2021), “Influence factors affecting the learning motivation of ethnic minority students in the case of online learning at University of Social Sciences and Humanities”, The International Conference on Contemporary Issues in Sustainable Development (CISD2021) part 1, Science and technics publishing house, pp. 176-186.
3. Pham Van Hue (2023), “Learning motivation of ethnic minority students: a review”, The first international conference on the issues of social sciences and humanities, Vietnam National University Press, Hanoi, pp. 1227-1241.

      

 

 

- Thesis purpose: to investigate the theory and current status of learning motivation among ethnic minority students, identify the factors influencing their learning motivation, and propose solutions and recommendations to enhance their motivation.
- Research object: focuses on the learning motivation and factors affecting the learning motivation of ethnic minority students.
- The research utilizes the following methods: Document research, questionnaire survey, in-depth interviews, typical case studies; data processing using mathematical statistics
- The major results
+ Through a comprehensive literature review and systematic analysis of existing research in psychology, both globally and in Vietnam, this study has revealed the construct of learning motivation among minority ethnic students. Learning motivation serves as the driving force that fulfills various needs in the learning activities of ethnic minority students. It activates, directs, empowers, and sustains their learning activities through internal motivation, external motivation, and motivation. This concept is shaped by Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory. Additionally, the study has identified several significant factors that influence the learning motivation of ethnic minority students, including the learning environment, cultural congruity, multidimensional social support (including family, friends, and significant individuals), experiences of discrimination, and digital literacy.
+ The results of the survey conducted on 517 ethnic minority students indicate that the majority of ethnic minority students demonstrate high levels of learning motivation (they exhibit high levels of internal learning motivation, high levels of external learning motivation, and low levels of motivation).The high positive correlation between internal and external learning motivation demonstrates that when the internal learning motivation of ethnic minority students is high, their external motivation is also high, and vice versa, with external motivation being stronger than internal motivation. The results also indicate that most ethnic minority students have high levels of external - identified learning motivation, and aspire towards future career opportunities.
+ The study also revealed differences in internal and external learning motivation based on gender, ethnicity, and academic performance. Additionally, single students exhibit higher levels of internal learning motivation compared to students in a relationship. Moreover, the state of motivation among ethnic minority students varied based on school and ethnicity. Furthermore, the research findings indicate no significant differences in the state of learning motivation among student groups based on place of birth, economic conditions, birth order, or course enrollment. The study also demonstrates that both internal and external learning motivation positively impact the academic performance of ethnic minority students. However, the state of motivation does not affect the academic performance of ethnic minority students.
+ The study also elucidated several factors that exert influence on the learning motivation of ethnic minority students. Specifically, it was found that the learning environment and social support significantly impact both the internal and external learning motivation of ethnic minority students. In addition, the experiences of discrimination and cultural congruity were found to affect the state of motivation among ethnic minority students.
+ Moreover, the study conducted typical case studies that elucidated the manifestations of learning motivation and highlighted the impacts of the learning environment and social support on the learning motivation of ethnic minority students.
+ The thesis also provides recommendations to maintain and enhance learning motivation among ethnic minority students, including suggestions for the students themselves, their families, and universities with a significant population of ethnic minority students.
- New contributions of the thesis
+ In theory
(1). The thesis has systematized the studies in the world and Vietnam and established fundamental concepts such as learning motivation and learning motivation among ethnic minority students.
(2). The thesis has shown the manifestations of learning motivation of ethnic minority students through the forms of motivation: internal motivation, external motivation, and motivation.
(3). The thesis has shown the factors affecting the learning motivation of ethnic minority students, encompassing aspects of the university learning environment, cultural integration of ethnic minority students; social backing received from family, friends, and significant individuals, daily discriminatory experiences, and the digital competencies required for university studies.
+ In practice
(1). The thesis has investigated and evaluated the current status of learning motivation of ethnic minority students through the forms of motivation: internal motivation, external motivation, and motivation; It has identified variations in internal and external motivation regarding gender, ethnicity, and learning outcomes and motivation regarding educational institutions and ethnicity... Additionally, it has demonstrated the positive impact of both internal and external learning motivation on the academic outcomes of ethnic minority students.
(2). The thesis has shown that there are many factors affecting the learning motivation of ethnic minority students, in which, the learning environment and social support received are factors that strongly affect the internal and external learning motivation of ethnic minority students. Factors like discrimination and cultural alignment have been shown to impact the motivation of ethnic minority students.
(3). The thesis has put forth several recommendations on solutions to help maintain and improve the learning motivation of ethnic minority students.
- Conclusions: The thesis has executed the essential components and steps in research. It has conducted a comprehensive literature review, established a theoretical foundation, identified a research model incorporating influential factors, and carried out a survey inquiry. The research objective, which aims to assess the current state of learning motivation and the factors influencing the learning motivation of ethnic minority students, has been achieved. The research findings have provided valuable insights and offered recommendations to sustain and enhance the learning motivation of ethnic minority students.

- Conduct comparative research to show the differences between majority students and ethnic minority students in terms of learning motivation.
- Conduct qualitative research, according to specific ethnic minority groups to create characteristics of each sample group of ethnic minority students. Conduct in-depth interviews with students' families to have a multi-dimensional and realistic perspective on the learning motivation of ethnic minority students and from there make recommendations of high practical value.
- Conduct research to examine the impact mechanism of learning motivation on the educational outcomes of ethnic minority students.

1. Pham Van Hue (2021), “The current situation of learning motivation of students in Social Sciences and Humanities”, Vap Vietnamese Journal of Psychology 06), pp. 16-29.
2. Pham Van Hue (2021), “Influence factors affecting the learning motivation of ethnic minority students in the case of online learning at University of Social Sciences and Humanities”, The International Conference on Contemporary Issues in Sustainable Development (CISD2021) part 1, Science and Technics Publishing House, pp. 176-186.
3. Pham Van Hue (2023), “Learning motivation of ethnic minority students: a review”, The first International Conference on the Issues of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University Press, Hanoi, pp. 1227-1241.

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Full name: Pham Van Hue