Asymmetric Perceptions of Information, Transparency, and Learning Intentions: An Investigation and Analysis of Undergraduates’ Willingness to Study General Elective Courses in Eastern Chinese Colleges

Abstract

To implement quality-oriented education in colleges and universities, the courses guide and significantly promote the holistic cultivation of students’ personalities, while also rounding out the university curriculum. However, the learning effects are not expected. The authors develop a model on student learning intentions based on a questionnaire survey of 5,000 undergraduates in Eastern China, utilizing multiple regression analyses. Our results show that learning intention is closely related to course information transparency, teachers’ opportunistic behaviors, the perceptions of students towards the course, and their trust in the classroom experience. Consequently, to decrease the degree of student asymmetric perceptions of information, course information transparency should be improved, and opportunistic teacher behaviors should be eliminated. This may result in enhancing students’ learning intentions.

Keywords

general elective / asymmetric perceptions of information / transparency / learning intention

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2017 Higher Education Press and Brill