An Empirical Study on College Students’ Agency for Learning in Sabah, Malaysia
Abstract
The primary purpose of this study was to examine the agency for learning among college students in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. The methodology involved administering the Agency for Learning Questionnaire online to 70 randomly selected college students. Responses were then automatically transferred onto a spreadsheet, and SPSS 26.0 was utilized to analyze the data. Mann-Whitney U test showed no significant gender differences in the college students’ agency for learning, while Kruskal-Wallis H test revealed no significant differences by way of ethnicity and age. Wilcoxon signed rank test revealed the following: (1) For intentionality/planful competence, three of the items were significant at p < 0.001, (2) for intentionality/decision competence, none of the items were significant, (3) for forethought/extrinsic motivation, six of the items were significant at p < 0.001, (4) for forethought/intrinsic motivation, six of the items were significant at p < 0.001, (5) for self-regulation, only one item was significant at p < 0.05, and (6) for self-efficacy, only one item was significant at p < 0.001. Lastly, group means indicated that the college students tended to exhibit low to low-average levels of agency for learning. Findings imply that it is crucial for colleges and universities to implement measures that encourage students to take greater agency over their academic life to progress into a meaningful future.
Downloads
References
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1985-98423-000
Bandura, A. (1989). Human agency in social cognitive theory. American Psychologist, 44(6), 1175-1184. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.44.9.1175
Bandura, A. (2000). Exercise of human agency through collective efficacy. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9, 75-78. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00064
Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.1
Bandura, A. (2006). Toward a psychology of human agency. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1, 164-180. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6916.2006.00011.x
Betz, N. E., & Hackett, G. (1987). Concept of agency in educational and career development. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 34(3), 299- 308. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.34.3.299
Blair, D. V. (2009). Learner agency: To understand and to be understood. British Journal of Music Education, 26(2), 173-187. http://doi.org/10.1017/0265051709008420
Brod, G., Kucirkova, N., Shepherd, J., Jolles, D., & Molenaar, I. (2023). Agency in educational technology: Interdisciplinary perspectives and implications for learning design. Educational Psychology Review, 35(25), 1-23. file:///C:/Users/Marketing_JC02/Downloads/s10648-023-09749-x.pdf
Code, J. (2020). Agency for learning: Intention, motivation, self-efficacy and self-regulation. Frontiers in Genetics, 5(19). https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2020.00019/full
Deakin, C. R., Huang, S., Ahmed Shafi, A., & Goldspink, C. (2015). Developing resilient agency in learning: The internal structure of learning power. British Journal of Educational Studies, 63(2), 121–160. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00071005.2015.1006574
Gerreyn, G. (2023, May 2). What is student agency and why is it so important? https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-student-agency-why-so-important-glen-gerreyn/
Hartnett, M., Brown, C., Forbes, D., Gedera, D., & Datt, A. (2023). Enhanced or diminished attitudes: University students’ agency. Computers & Education, 198. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131523000507
Jang, J. (2022). An exploratory study on learner agency and second language writing practices of Korean high school students. Asian Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 7(31). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-022-00158-1
Kazin, C. (2023, April 11). The importance of student agency and self-direction. Evolllution. https://evolllution.com/attracting-students/customer_service/the-importance-of-student-agency-and-self-direction
Lin, L. Y., & Chen, C. S. (2006). The influence of the country-of-origin image, product knowledge and product involvement on consumer purchase decisions: An empirical study of insurance and catering services in Taiwan. Journal of consumer Marketing, 23(5), 248-265. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760610681655
Luo, H., Yang, T., Xue, J., & Zuo, M. (2019). Impact of student agency on learning performance and learning experience in a flipped classroom. British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(2), 819-831. https://www.learntechlib.org/p/208331/
Maretha, A. L. & Waluyo, B. (2022). Profiles, differences, and roles of learners’ agency in English learning in Thailand. International Journal of Instruction, 15(2), 543-564. https://e-iji.net/ats/index.php/pub/article/view/398
Memon, M. A., Ting, H., Cheah, J. H., Thurasamy, R., Chuah, F., & Cham, T. H. (2020). Sample size for survey research: Review and recommendation. Journal of Applied Structural Equation Modeling, 4(2), 1-20. https://jasemjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Memon-et-al_JASEM_-Editorial_V4_Iss2_June2020.pdf
O’Rourke, M., & Addison, P. (2017). What is the rationale and evidence base for student agency? EdPartnerships International. https://www.edpartnerships.edu.au/file/388/I/What_is_the_rationale_and_evidence_base_for_student_agency_.pdf
Renaissance Learning, Inc. (2025). Student agency. https://www.renaissance.com/edword/student-agency/
Taub, M., Sawyer, R., Smith, A., Rowe, J., Azevedo, R., & Lester, J. (2020). The agency effect: The impact of student agency on learning, emotions, and problem-solving behaviors in a game-based learning environment. Computers & Education, 147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103781.
Weeks, C. (2023, June 27). How to build student agency in the classroom. Participate Learning. https://www.participatelearning.com/how-to-build-student-agency-in-classrooms/
Yang, W., Li, Y., Zhou, W., & Li, H. (2020). Learning to design research: Students’ agency and experiences in a Master of Education program in Hong Kong. ECNU Review of Education, 3(2), 291-309. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2096531120917163
Zeiser, K., Scholz, C., & Cirks, V. (2018, October). Maximizing student agency: Implementing and measuring student-centered learning practices. American Institutes for Research (AIR). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED592084.pdf
