The relationship between gender, age, study mode, locus of control, extracurricular activities, learning approaches and academic achievement: the case of full-time and part-time Hong Kong Chinese sub-degree students

The massive expansion of self-financing sub-degree programmes is a major development in Hong Kong post-secondary education over the past decade. More full-time and part-time students from less advantaged academic backgrounds are able to access higher education. Given the specific nature and academic background of these students, there is a need to develop a greater understanding of major factors which shape their educational success. Many studies have explored the relationship between individual student characteristics, learning approaches and academic achievement on Western tertiary students. Comparatively little is known about such relationship in the Hong Kong Chinese sub-degree context. The research aims to investigate the relationship between individual student characteristics, learning approaches and academic achievement of Hong Kong Chinese sub-degree finance students. Biggs’s 3P learning model suggests that gender, age, study mode, locus of control and extracurricular activities influence learning approaches and subsequently affect academic achievement. The present study uses a quantitative approach from the positivist paradigm to empirically test the 3P model of the relationships between gender, age, study mode, locus of control, extracurricular activities, learning approaches, and academic achievement. 131 full-time and 130 part-time Hong Kong Chinese sub-degree finance students participate in this research. Biggs’s Revised Two-Factor Study Processes Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) and McAuley’s Revised Causal Dimension Scale (CDSII) are used to measure learning approaches and locus of control respectively. Regression analysis is used to examine the fit of the variables to hypothesized models. The results suggest that locus of control and extracurricular activities influence the learning approaches of full-time and part-time Hong Kong Chinese sub-degree finance students. The study suggests that the deep approach is positively associated with academic achievement.