Perceived instrumental value of Libyan students' education in the United States and Canada [Ressource électronique] / Abulghasem Beshir Khumage

Doctor of philosophy : Education : The Ohio State University : 1988

Bibliogr. p. 669-698

This study aimed at assessing the perceived instrumental value of Libyan students' education in the US and Canada. The perceived instrumental value, PIV, for short, was defined operationally in terms of three multilevel dependent variables; comparative advantage, usefulness to sel f , and usefulness to society. The study tried to explain observed variations in PIV on the bases of several explanatory variables. These included simple variables such as age, major field, level of degree, GPA, as well as multilevel variables such as adequacy of preparation, motivation, identification preferences, satisfaction with experience, encountered problems, implementation conditions, and curricular instrumentality. A questionnaire, specifically designed for the study was sent to a sample of 322 students selected at random from both hosts. 188 completed forms were analyzed. Factor analysis was used to reduce multidlmentlonallty and multicolinearity. Canonical correlation analysis was then performed on the extracted factors to estimate the maximum degree of association between linear sets of the dependent and independent variables. The findings suggested that PIV was expressed malnlv in terms of the individual's needs and aspirations and was explainable more in terms of the host- rather than home-grown variables. It was concluded then that type of host makes a difference In predlc.tlng_and_explalnlnq PIV,. US-based group encoutered less problems, was more satisfied with experience, its members were more mature, and with higher standing on the perceptual-experiential proximity index. They shared with the Canadian-based group the attribution of high PIV to the hidden curriculum, but they expected more PIV in the practical-technical as well as theoretical-generic aspects of curriculum. US-group tended to have more older, married, graduate-level, students with longer sojourn. The status of the home-host political relations, however, did not, in itself, have any significant effect on PIV.