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Preparing students for the 21st century labor market through liberal arts education at a Chinese joint venture university

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Preparing students for the 21st century labor market through liberal arts education at a Chinese joint venture university

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PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY LABOR MARKET THROUGH
LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION AT A CHINESE JOINT VENTURE UNIVERSITY

by
Lingling Wang

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

August 2020

Copyright 2020 Lingling Wang

ii
ABSTRACT
As Chinese college students enter the labor market, employers are seeking graduates with
the right skills needed in the workplace. However, there may be a mismatch in skills between
graduates and what is needed in China’s labor market. As the country accelerated its efforts in
industrial upgrading, employers need students to be equipped with 21st century skills. New joint
venture universities in China are focused on liberal arts education in hope of cultivating well-
rounded students with the necessary skills for a more globalized society.
This case study examined the effectiveness of a university’s effort in developing
students’ 21st century skills through its liberal arts curriculum. Interviews and document analysis
were conducted to analyze the perceived knowledge, motivation and organizational impacts that
may influence its faculty members’ ability to develop these skills through their teaching. The
study revealed gaps in some faculty’s understanding of liberal arts education, and the student
focus on earning higher grades meant that faculty efficacy in meeting other curriculum goals was
lower than expected. Junior faculty also lacked time for course preparation, thus affecting the
design and implementation of course strategies.
Recommendations for practice include a university wide effort to integrate liberal arts
concept into the university culture, the implementation of a comprehensive student assessment
tool and a faculty mentoring program. An implementation and evaluation plan was also
recommended at the end of the study.

Key words: Liberal arts education, 21st century skills, China, joint venture university, Labor
market

iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As I reflect on this journey, there are many individuals who I feel grateful for their
guidance, inspiration and support throughout the process of this program and this dissertation.
First, I would like to thank my dissertation chair, Dr. Tracy Tambascia, who was tremendously
helpful throughout this dissertation process. She has been extremely patient and gave me a lot of
guidance and advice throughout this process. I am grateful for her knowledge and expertise. My
appreciation also goes to my two other committee members, Dr. Cathy Krop and Dr. Lawrence
Picus. I am honored to have such esteemed faculty serving on my dissertation committee. Thank
you for your time and effort on my dissertation.
I am grateful for Dr. Haiyan Gao, former Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of Duke
Kunshan University, for not only her encouragement for my pursuing of a doctoral degree but
also for being a source of inspiration as a female scientist, a mom and a leader. I am also
indebted to all of the faculty members who participated in my study and gave me time to
interview them despite their busy schedules. Their participation made my study a reality.
A very special thank you also goes to my peer colleagues in Cohort 7. From you came
the encouragement and support to continue the pursuit of our degrees. You have each been great
inspiration for me. I will cherish this unforgettable journey we have been on together.
Lastly, I would like to thank my family for their love and support. To my mum, for
always supporting my decisions and believing in me. To my daughter, Angela, thank you for
being understanding of my constant absence in the last two years. I hope I can be a source of
inspiration for you and know that you can always strive for a better self.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vi
Chapter One: Introduction ...............................................................................................................1
Background of the Problem .................................................................................................2
Importance of Addressing the Problem ...............................................................................6
Organizational Context and Mission ...................................................................................8
Description of Stakeholder Groups ......................................................................................9
Stakeholder Group for the Study .......................................................................................10
Purpose of the Project and Questions ................................................................................11
Conceptual and Methodological Framework .....................................................................11
Definitions..........................................................................................................................12
Organization of the Project ................................................................................................12
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature .........................................................................................14
China’s Exploration of Liberal Arts Education .................................................................14
Historical View of Liberal Arts Education ..................................................................15
Curriculum Structure and Reform Efforts in China .....................................................17
Liberal Arts Curriculum and 21st Century Skill Development ....................................19
Challenges in Delivering Liberal Arts Education in China .........................................20
Joint Venture Universities in China ...................................................................................21
Partnerships in Sino-foreign Cooperation ....................................................................21
Liberal Arts Education in JV Universities ...................................................................23
Faculty Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences .......................................24
Knowledge and Skills ..................................................................................................25
Motivation ....................................................................................................................27
Organization .................................................................................................................29
Conclusion .........................................................................................................................32
Chapter Three: Methods ................................................................................................................33
Participating Stakeholders .................................................................................................33
Interview Sampling Strategy and Rationale ................................................................34
Interview Sampling Criterion and Rationale ...............................................................34
Document Analysis Strategy and Rationale ................................................................35
Document Analysis Sampling Criterion and Rationale ...............................................35
Data Collection and Instrumentation .................................................................................36
Interviews .....................................................................................................................36
Document Analysis ......................................................................................................37
Data Analysis .....................................................................................................................37
Credibility and Trustworthiness .........................................................................................38
Ethics..................................................................................................................................39
Limitations and Delimitations............................................................................................40
Conclusion .........................................................................................................................41
Chapter Four: Findings ..................................................................................................................42
Participating Stakeholders .................................................................................................43
Interview Participants ..................................................................................................43
Document Analysis ......................................................................................................44
Knowledge Findings ..........................................................................................................44

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Knowledge About Liberal Arts Education ..................................................................45
Faculty Procedure Knowledge in Teaching Liberal Arts Curriculum .........................49
Self-knowledge at Metacognitive Level ......................................................................51
Motivation Findings ...........................................................................................................53
Faculty Value Teaching Liberal Arts Education .........................................................54
Faculty Do More Than Bare Minimum to Achieve Higher Goal ................................56
Faculty’s Self-efficacy in Developing Students’ 21st Century Skills ..........................58
Organizational Findings .....................................................................................................61
University Culture of Liberal Arts Education ..............................................................61
University Resources that Support Faculty Teaching ..................................................66
Summary ............................................................................................................................69
Chapter Five: Recommendations ...................................................................................................70
Key Findings ......................................................................................................................70
Recommendations ..............................................................................................................71
Proposed Recommendations and Implementation Plan .....................................................73
Recommendation One: Integrate the Idea of Liberal Arts Education in University
Culture and Include a Specific Session in the Orientation Program for New Faculty 73
Recommendation Two: Implement a More Comprehensive Student Assessment Plan
......................................................................................................................................75
Recommendation Three: Establish a Faculty Mentoring Program ..............................78
Evaluation Plan ..................................................................................................................79
Level One: Reaction ....................................................................................................80
Level Two: Learning....................................................................................................81
Level Three: Behavior .................................................................................................83
Level Four: Impact ......................................................................................................84
Limitations and Future Research .......................................................................................86
Conclusion .........................................................................................................................87
REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................89
APPENDIX A Recruitment Email...............................................................................................101
APPENDIX B Interview Protocol ...............................................................................................102
APPENDIX C Informed Consent Form ......................................................................................104

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Organizational Mission, Organizational Goal and Stakeholder Performance Goals ...... 10
Table 2. Assumed Knowledge Influences .................................................................................... 27
Table 3. Assumed Motivation Influences ..................................................................................... 29
Table 4. Assumed Organizational Influences ............................................................................... 31
Table 5. Interview Participants (n=11) ......................................................................................... 44
Table 6. Summary of Validated Knowledge Influences ............................................................... 45
Table 7. Summary of Validated Motivation Influences................................................................ 54
Table 8. Summary of Validated Organization Influences ............................................................ 61
Table 9. Validated Influences ....................................................................................................... 71
Table 10. Validated Influences in Order of Recommendations .................................................... 72
Table 11. Recommendation 1: Recommendation, Responsible Unit, Steps for Implementation
and Timeframe .............................................................................................................................. 75
Table 12. Recommendation 2: Recommendation, Responsible Unit, Steps for Implementation
and Timeframe .............................................................................................................................. 77
Table 13. Recommendation 3: Recommendation, Responsible Unit, Steps for Implementation
and Timeframe .............................................................................................................................. 79
Table 14. Intervention Assessment Level One: Reaction ............................................................. 81
Table 15. Intervention Assessment Level Two: Learning ............................................................ 82
Table 16. Intervention Assessment Level Three: Behavior .......................................................... 84
Table 17. Intervention Assessment Level Four: Impact ............................................................... 85

1
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
At the start of the 21st century, China embarked on a road towards mass higher education.
Mass higher education was defined by Trow (1973) as a higher education participation rate
reaching 15% of the population (Trow, 1973). In 1998, the Chinese government set a goal of
achieving 15% enrollment in higher education by 2010, which was outlined in the document,
Action Plan for Vitalizing Education in the 21st Century (MOE, 1998). The higher education
expansion effort was accelerated and continues today. By 2017, total enrollment in Chinese
tertiary education reached 26.9 million, with a gross enrollment ratio, a measure of official
school-age population corresponding to the same level of education, of 51.01%, which is an
exponential growth from a mere 6% in 1998 (MOE, 2019).
However, the rapid and massive growth in Chinese universities represents varying levels
of quality, and student outcomes are not consistent (D. Wang, Liu, & Lai, 2012). Many
university graduates are not well prepared for the labor market (Mok & Qian, 2018). By the time
students graduate, skills acquired through their four years of education may not match the skills
needed in the workplace (Molnar, Wang, & Gao, 2015). Soft skills include one’s personality,
professionalism, organizational skills, communication, teamwork, leadership, problem solving
and critical thinking (Parsons, 2008). Soft skills are known as interpersonal qualities or people
skills, and personal attributes that one possesses (Robles, 2012). Such skills are also sometimes
referred to as 21st century skills (21st Century Kills, 2019). Hard skills are the technical
expertise and knowledge needed for a job.
Among all the soft skills, those that challenged most by companies and businesses are the
lack of leadership, communication and self-motivation (Chan, Goh, & Prest, 2015). Basic soft
skills such as problem-solving skills, inter-personal skills, an aptitude for learning and being
committed to lifelong professional development in order to absorb new knowledge are essential

2
(Fernandez-Stark, Bamber, & Gereffi, 2012). In particular, Chinese graduates lack soft skills
such as international and cross-cultural communication skills, creativity and innovation,
leadership skills and problem-solving skills, which are needed in multinational companies (Chan
et al., 2015). Many companies in China also reported that a lack of soft skills posed a much
bigger challenge than the absence of hard skills. Speaking, negotiation, persuasion and active
learning are considered more important by employers than practical skills such as programming
(Molnar et al., 2015).
A workforce with appropriate skillsets is fundamental to industrial upgrading. China’s
industrial structure is changing towards emerging industries such as a high-tech manufacturing
industry and service sectors, which require graduates to master a different set of skills. Lack of
focus on developing these skills while in college worsened the shortage of skills in such
emerging industries (Molnar et al., 2015). Despite China’s initiative to foster soft skills in
various fields to drive industrial innovation and China’s globalization, the result still hinges on
many factors (Postiglione, 2015). This problem leads to a lack of diverse employment
opportunities for Chinese students in the country and abroad, while at the same time, both local
and multinational firms are unable to fill their needed positions.
Background of the Problem
Due to China’s higher education massification process, the number of students enrolled
in higher education institutions by the end of 2018 reached approximately 29 million. The
graduates in 2018 alone exceeded eight million (MOE, 2018). While China shifted its higher
education from elite education to mass education, these changes have come at a cost, as the
quality of some undergraduate programs may have declined and the undergraduate curriculum
failed to meet the needs of China’s globalization effort (Jiang, 2014).

3
Unemployment of new graduates is not new to China given the large number of
graduates. According to China’s Blue Book of Employment, China’s four-year college graduates
have an unemployment rate of above eight percent since 2012 (B. Wang & Ma, 2018). Similar
to other countries, China’s high unemployment rate of graduates is related not only to its
economic development and overall education policy, but is also related to the higher education
system (Bai, 2006). Among the many factors that have contributed to employment difficulties of
university graduates is the gap between what students are taught at universities and the skills
favored in the workplace (Ren, Zhu, & Warner, 2011). The “employment gap” reflected by
graduates unable to find ideal jobs while employers cannot find the right people, originates from
the mismatch of major or curriculum design in universities and the needs of employers (Xie,
2005). College graduates need enhanced interpersonal skills, communication and presentation
skills, self-awareness and self-professional orientation according to the needs of the emerging
industries ( Sun, 2013). The Chinese government and universities have come to the realization
that the current curriculum implemented in most of the Chinese universities has a narrow focus
on professional training. They are inadequate in preparing students for today’s global needs and
challenges (Jiang, 2013).
Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese higher
education structure was deliberately modeled after the college and university structure in the
former Soviet Union (Min, 2004). The adoption of the Soviet model meant not only the
establishment of a highly specialized higher education system; many Soviet curricula, course
syllabi, teaching methods, textbooks and even the institutional and discipline names were
introduced to the Chinese higher education system (Yang, 2000). With the goal of “building
specialized institutes,” China mainly focused on the development of skills needed for various
industries (British Council, 2013). The Soviet model was very successful in facilitating China’s

4
scientific and technological progress, since its highly specialized higher education system helped
China produce many skilled workers needed in national construction (Min, 2004). In the 1990s,
due to the rapid transformation of the society and the unstoppable trend of globalization, Chinese
higher education leaders realized the Soviet model of specialist education was not producing
graduates with innovative and creative thinking needed for industrial upgrading (Li, 2010). The
older, Soviet model has been challenged as university graduates are not equipped with the right
skills. Further, structural changes in the economy exacerbate the shortage of skills in newly
emerging industries in China, such as the lack of communication skills, cultural awareness and
leadership skills (Molnar et al., 2015). The rising job opportunities in the service sectors requires
different skillsets compared to those needed in the traditional labor-intensive manufacturing
industry or agricultural industry. Students who are trained more broadly and well-educated in
their specific field are more welcome in the labor market, compared to those who are narrowly
trained in their specific area, but lack transferrable skills (Li, 2010). As more Chinese companies
are competing on a global stage, they need students to be equipped with adequate language
skills, cultural awareness and complex problem-solving abilities.
Since the late 20th century, globalization has compelled China and other countries to
reform their educational institutions and curricula (Yates & Young, 2010). The Outline of
China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development
(Ministry of Education, 2010) also emphasized that the country shall spare no effort in order to
produce high-end professional and top innovators. In his address to the People’s Congress in
March 2009, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao emphasized “education at all levels must focus on
promoting all-round development of students.” The curriculum needed to be reformed so that
students had more time to “think, practice and create,” and higher education institutions needed
to offer courses to “meet the needs of the market and China’s economic and social

5
development.” Since the late 1990s, much of the reform in the Chinese education system has
focused on the curriculum itself, with the ultimate goal of enabling the country to be more
competitive on the global level (Jiang, 2014). Many Chinese universities added general
education courses to their traditional curriculum. Liberal arts education has become an ideal
model for China’s latest goal for educating students.
A liberal arts curriculum has been implemented at some top Chinese institutions, such as
Fudan University and Sun Yat-sen University, in the past two decades to cultivate students’
critical thinking, creativity, moral reasoning and innovation skills (Jiang, 2014). This exploration
from specialized disciplines to liberal arts model demonstrates the commitment to cultivate
students to “develop understanding of a breadth of topics, enhance their critical thinking abilities,
and become well-rounded, educated citizens” (Bourke, Bray, & Horton, 2009).
Despite efforts at the national level and at universities to reform higher education
curricula, these attempts have made little progress. Pilot projects in key universities have not
been truly successful in reforming courses and curriculum around student development (Chen,
2006). There are internal reasons at each school that have been barriers, such as faculty being
distracted by other matters rather than focusing on teaching (Zhang, 2013), traditional
educational pedagogy that focuses on lecturing and rote learning (Chen, 2003), and external
reasons, such as the market pushing a university and students to look for superficial achievement,
such as blind pursuit of monetary compensation, stable civil servant positions or looking for jobs
that are considered stable by parents (Wen, 2009). Faculty in higher education institutions in
China are evaluated on the number of papers published and research is considered
overwhelmingly more important than teaching (Zhou & Zhang, 2007). Faculty, who are
incentivized by paper quantity rather than teaching quality, do not consider teaching their
priority. In some universities, general education courses are considered secondary to major

6
related course, even though they are intended to develop students as well-rounded and educated
people rather than trained specialists (Kong, 2015). Faculty have low expectations on learning
outcomes of general education classes and some students consider these general education
classes as opportunities to take a break from other intensive classes (Zhang, 2006).
In addition to all the efforts made by Chinese universities, there is another avenue of
development as the country opened up its higher education market with China’s entry into the
World Trade Organization. To improve Chinese universities’ understanding of different
pedagogies, quality assurance systems and curriculum development, the government highly
welcomed partnerships between Chinese and foreign universities (Christine & Yang, 2009). In
2003, new Chinese legislation permitted the establishment of independent joint venture
universities in partnership with Chinese institutions. The law “Regulations of the People’s
Republic of China on Chinese-foreign Co-operation in Running Schools” came into effect on 1
September 2003, signaling China’s desire to learn from leading international universities’
advanced teaching and learning methods (Christine & Yang, 2009). By April 2019, there were
10 joint venture universities approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education as independent legal
entities (MOE, 2019). On the platform of these joint venture universities, the liberal arts model
has been implemented in a couple of universities, such as Ningbo Nottingham University and
NYU Shanghai University. This paper will examine the implementation of the liberal arts model
in one of the joint venture universities.
Importance of Addressing the Problem
It is important to resolve the problem of misalignment of skills among university
graduates for a number of reasons. Education in China has always been considered essential to
the country’s social, economic and cultural development (Huang, Benson, & Zhu, 2014). China’s
sustained rise and long-term growth largely rely on human capital development, which depends

7
on the education system (Morgan, 2013). The higher education massification process has
undoubtedly produced large number of graduates for the labor market, even though the
employment opportunities in the market have not grown with it (Christine & Yang, 2009). In the
past few decades, the key factors that have driven China’s growth have not been a high-tech
industry, a knowledge-based economy or innovation and creativity, but rather a cheap labor
force, inexpensive land and low-end manufacturing (H. Wang, 2014). Even though China has
witnessed significant economic progress and has become the second largest economy, its
cultivation of high quality human capital lags behind its economic growth.
As China embarks on the road of industrial upgrading, the government has increasingly
realized that the labor market has a serious shortage of graduates with adequate skillsets. Since
the late 20th century, many countries, including China, have been forced to reform their
educational institutions and curricula due to globalization, which has forced graduates to
compete on an international platform (Yates & Young, 2010). China has started to reform its
curriculum in order to cultivate capacity for working in complex environments to address the
social, economic and educational challenges arising from the 21st century (Law, 2014).
Improving students’ global competitiveness, such as cultivating their critical thinking skills,
problem-solving skills, creativity and English skills, is one of the main goals of the higher
education curriculum reform in China (Hallak & Poisson, 1999). If this problem of practice is
solved, Chinese graduates trained with adequate English language skills, cultural awareness,
problem-solving skills and other much-needed skills for the 21st century workforce, will close the
“employment gap” in the changing labor market, thus facilitating China’s industrial
restructuring. Chinese companies will be equipped with the right talent to compete with
international companies in the global arena (Molnar et al., 2015). To the contrary, if this problem
of practice is not solved, the current shortage of graduates with the right skillsets will be a barrier

8
to the country’s industrial development and to attracting international companies to invest in
China (Li & Sheldon, 2010).
Organizational Context and Mission
University of Thompson (UOT, a pseudonym), is a Chinese-American partnership to
jointly establish a liberal arts university. UOT was founded in 2013 and aims to offer a four-year,
interdisciplinary liberal arts degree program to students from around the world. The university is
a research-oriented, liberal arts and sciences university located in China, whose primary mission
is to enable students from around the world to lead purposeful and productive lives (About UOT,
2018). The new liberal arts program, which enrolled its inaugural class of students in fall 2018,
features an integrated and multi-disciplinary curriculum, with an effective blend of Chinese,
American, and global techniques and values and a culture of academic excellence and freedom
(About UOT, 2018). The curriculum is grounded in seven key principles: rooted globalism,
collaborative problem solving, research and practice, lucid communication, independence and
creativity, wise leadership and a purposeful life (UOT Overview, 2018). In this curriculum,
freshmen students are expected to start with general education course requirements, which
includes a course in the three distributional areas of natural science, social science and arts and
humanities, a few language courses and a quantitative course. Students will explore different
subjects during the first two years before they declare their major in their sophomore year. When
students rise to their junior and senior years, they will need to meet the major requirements,
which consists of interdisciplinary courses, disciplinary courses as well as elective courses. In
this new liberal arts program, there are more than 500 students in the two classes, with about
30% international students. Among the international group, half of them are from the United
States. During their four years of study, they will spend three and half years on the UOT campus
and half a year on the US university campus. The faculty team in the liberal arts program is

9
comprised of about 80 faculty members, with more than half coming from the U.S., about a
quarter from China, and the rest from rest of the world. The faculty team at UOT will continue to
grow as the university increases its enrollment. By the time the program is in full capacity in
2022, there will be more than 200 faculty in total.
Organizational Goal
UOT’s goal is to provide students with adequate skills through its interdisciplinary liberal
arts curriculum, and thus achieve 100% placement in graduates’ pursued area within three
months of their graduation in June 2022. This goal was established by the Board of Trustees after
the inaugural class of students matriculated (UOT Overview, 2018). Achieving this goal will be
measured by UOT’s Career Office, which will track placement rate and quality on an annual
basis. It is important to evaluate the organization’s performance in relationship to the
performance goal of 100% placement in graduates’ pursued area. If the university fails to
achieve this goal, it will have a negative effect on future student recruitment. Evaluating the
organization’s performance will enable stakeholders to gather formative data that can be used to
assess the organization’s programming decisions that positively impact the student progress.
Description of Stakeholder Groups
In this organization, there are three main stakeholders that will influence the achievement
of the organization goal. The first stakeholder is the administrative leadership, who will create a
positive organizational climate to facilitate teaching and learning activities, and includes the
university’s chancellors and directors of each functional areas. The second stakeholder group is
the faculty who will implement the liberal arts curriculum. Faculty members are the group who
interact with students on a daily basis and they will design and implement the actual teaching
strategies in order to implement the curriculum. The last stakeholder group is the students who

10
are enrolled in the four-year degree program and ultimately will determine if the organizational
goal of placement in pursued interests is accomplished.
Table 1
Organizational Mission, Organizational Goal and Stakeholder Performance Goals
Organizational Mission
UOT’s primary mission is to enable students from around the world to lead purposeful and
productive lives.
Organizational Performance Goal
By June 2022, UOT will provide graduates with a useful set of skills, such as critical thinking
skills, cultural awareness, IT literacy, communication skills, creativity and problem-solving
ability that will lead to 100% placement in students’ pursued area in three months of graduation.
Administrative Faculty Students
By June 2022, the senior
leadership will create an
organizational culture that
respects academic freedom
and promotes free
discussions.
By June 2022, faculty will
have designed and executed the
teaching strategies in order to
implement this new liberal arts
curriculum.
By Sep. 2022, all first-cohort
students will successfully find
placement in their pursued area
after graduation.

Stakeholder Group for the Study
While the joint efforts of all stakeholders will contribute to the achievement of the overall
organizational goal of 100% placement of its students in their pursued area in three months of
their graduation, it is important to evaluate where the faculty currently are with regard to their
performance goal since they are on the forefront of designing and implementing the new
curriculum and have day-to-day interactions with students. Therefore, the stakeholders of focus
for this study will be all the faculty involved in the implementation of this curriculum. The
stakeholders’ goal is to design and implement the curriculum in their daily teaching activities,
through which, students will acquire the key soft skills, such as people skills, communication,
organizational, and critical thinking skills needed in the 21st century job market globally. The

11
implementation of the curriculum includes the design of the curriculum, setting learning
outcome, assignment design, in-class activities, and teaching strategies. Whether the
implementation of the curriculum is successful or not will impact the learning outcome of
students and their skills training, thus affecting the overall goal of 100% placement of graduates’
in their pursued area.
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of this project is to evaluate the degree to which faculty are effectively
implementing the designed curriculum and the extent to which UOT will be able to achieve its
goal of 100% placement of its graduates’ in their pursued area. The analysis will focus on faculty
knowledge, motivation and organizational influences related to achieving this organizational
goal. While a complete evaluation project would focus on all UOT stakeholders, for practical
purposes the stakeholders to be focused on in this analysis are all faculty members teaching the
liberal arts curriculum at UOT.
As such, the questions that guide this study are the following:
1. What is faculty’s knowledge and motivation related to the development of students’ 21st
century skills, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, communication and language
skills, through the liberal arts curriculum?
2. What is the interaction between the university’s culture and context and faculty’s
knowledge and motivation?
Conceptual and Methodological Framework
Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis is a systematic and analytical method that helps to
clarify organizational goals, and gaps between current performance and stated goals, and identify
the knowledge, motivation and organizational influences on performance. This method will be
adapted to an evaluation model and implemented as the conceptual framework. The

12
methodological framework used in this dissertation is a qualitative case study with descriptive
statistics. Assumed knowledge, motivation and organizational influences on UOT faculty that
impact UOT’s organizational goal achievement will be generated based on personal knowledge
and related literature. These influences will be assessed by using interviews and document
analysis. Research-based solutions will be recommended and evaluated in a comprehensive
manner.
Definitions
Liberal Arts: college or university studies (such as language, philosophy, literature,
abstract science) intended to provide chiefly general knowledge and to develop general
intellectual capacities (such as reason and judgment) as opposed to professional or vocational
skills (Merriam-Webster, 2018)
21st Century Skills: skills that must be brought to bear in today’s worlds of education and
employment in order for individuals to function effectively as students, workers and citizens.
Such skills are also sometimes called soft skills, and generally include communication skills,
problem-solving, creativity, cultural awareness, computer literacy and etc. (Griffin & Care,
2014).
General Education: a program of education (as in some liberal arts colleges and
secondary schools) intended to develop students as personalities rather than trained specialists
and to transmit a common cultural heritage (Merriam-Webster, 2018)
Organization of the Project
Five chapters are used to organize this study. This chapter provided the reader with the
key concepts commonly found in a discussion about liberal arts education and 21st century skills,
specifically as applies to the Chinese higher education context. The organization’s mission, goals
and stakeholders and the framework for the project were introduced. Chapter Two provides a

13
review of current literature surrounding the scope of the study. Topics of Chinese college
curriculum, liberal arts education and its implementation in China and joint venture universities
will be addressed. Chapter Three will further examine the knowledge, motivation and
organizational influences as well as methodology, choice of participants, data collection and
analysis. In Chapter Four, the data and results are assessed and analyzed. Chapter Five provides
solutions, based on data and literature, for closing the perceived gaps as well as
recommendations for an implementation and evaluation plan for the solutions.

14
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
China’s Exploration of Liberal Arts Education
Liberal arts education is an established educational program with a long history in the
Western world. It is renowned for its classical idea of cultivating well-rounded members of
society. Socrates’ concept of reflective life and Aristotle’s thought of examined life built the
foundations of Western philosophy and tradition, which greatly influenced the development of
liberal arts education. The Italian scholar Pietro Paolo Vergerio insisted the cultivation of good
morals was a sovereign goal of education (Thomson, 1966). Given its long history in academics,
there is no shortage of definitions of liberal arts education. From the description in the Yale
Report in 1828 to the concepts identified by the Association of American Colleges and
Universities (AAC&U) in 1998, the definition has evolved over time to better capture the
essence of liberal arts education and to serve the changing needs of the society. The Yale Report
of 1828 distinguished liberal education from professional education, as professional education
prepares individuals for a particular business or employment, while liberal education trains
methodical and persevering efforts through study and exercise (Herbst, 2004). A liberal education
is defined as “a course of discipline in the arts and sciences both to strengthen and enlarge the
faculties of the mind, and to familiarize it with the leading principles of the great objects of
human investigation and knowledge” (College & O’Hara, 1828. p31). The Yale Report laid the
foundation for the philosophy of liberal arts education in the United States. Though current
educational experts have called for the need for transformation of liberal education and teaching
(Barker, 2000), liberal arts have had the greatest impact and left the largest imprint on the
American higher education community (Becker, 2003). Liberal education has also adapted to 21st
century needs to engage students in work on important questions and problems facing the society
(Becker, 2003). According to AAC&U (2014), liberal arts education is “an approach to college

15
learning that empowers individuals and prepares them to deal with complexity, diversity, and
change. This approach emphasizes broad knowledge of the wider world (e.g., science, culture,
and society) as well as in-depth achievement in a specific field of interest” (AAC&U, 2014).
The core of liberal arts education has been consistent, which is to expand the capacity of the
mind, to think critically, to analyze information effectively, and to cultivate whole person.
However, additional features have developed over time in order to prepare students to address
issues in a more complex and globalized world, and to allow graduates to grasp the skillsets
needed in adapting to changing social and economic environment (Becker, 2003). To better
understand liberal arts education, a historical look at the liberal arts education is needed.
Historical View of Liberal Arts Education
Liberal arts can claim to be the oldest education program, with a history of 2,500 years in
the West (“Liberal Arts – LiberalArts,” 2019), with origins in the attempt to uncover universal
principles related to the existence of anything and everything (Tubbs, 2014). Over time, a two-
fold curriculum was established – the quadrivium, which includes music, arithmetic, geometry
and astronomy (or astrology) and the trivium, which includes the three arts of grammar, logic, and
rhetoric (Tubbs, 2014).
Following the classical Greek tradition, the humanistic tradition of liberal arts education,
however, places more emphasis on seeking freedom. The two aims of a humanistic education are
morality and civilization (Glyer & Weeks, 1998). During the Renaissance, ancient languages,
Latin and Greek in particular, occupied a key place in liberal education. There was a focus on
rhetoric and eloquence, the relationship between literary/aesthetic and moral education (Ridder-
Symoens, 1996). The Great War period witnessed the revival of liberal arts colleges. Harvard
literature professor Irving Babbitt proposed a new humanism requiring moral edification

16
nurturing character, self-reflection and a sense of humility that could best be taught in liberal arts
colleges, where students could assimilate the accumulated wisdom of the ages (Fischer, 2012).
The early and middle 20th century witnessed in the United States the rebirth of the liberal
arts education in higher educational institutions with liberal arts graduates between 1920 and 1940
likely tripled (McCaughey, 2019). At Columbia in 1915, the Associate Professor John Erskine
proposed a two-year reading course on “The Great Books” as a counterattack against the
insulation of their senior faculty from undergraduate instruction (McCaughey, 2019). Later two
major efforts laid the foundation of modern liberal arts education: Harvard College in 1945 and
the University of Chicago in 1950. Both have dedicated much of their resources in developing and
implementing new liberal arts ideas (Glyer & Weeks, 1998). Although liberal arts education today
varies from institution to institution, liberal arts education remains “an integral part of the
American undergraduate course of study” (Ratcliff, Johnson, & Gaff, 2004).
In the modern context, liberal arts curricula involve a wide array of subjects. However, the
core aims of the liberal arts curricula, which is to develop well-rounded individuals with general
knowledge in a wide variety of subjects and a set of transferrable skills, remain unchanged. Those
individuals will become lifelong learners in their respective capacity, contribute to their own
community and become “global citizens.” A liberal education helps students develop a sense of
social responsibility, as well as strong and transferable intellectual and practical skills such as
communication, analytical and problem-solving skills, and a demonstrated ability to apply
knowledge and skills in real-world settings” (AAC&U, 2014). Nussbaum (1997) noted that
liberal arts education must foster critical thinking in the context of a globalized and multicultural
world, and human beings need to freely develop cognitive and reasoning abilities through liberal
arts education and then to foster morality and compassion for the sake of developing a truly
human person. In order to become responsible and globalized citizens, students must develop a

17
reflective understanding of themselves and society, including knowledge and history of non-
Western and minority cultures through liberal arts education (Nussbaum, 1997).
Curriculum Structure and Reform Efforts in China
As early as the start of the 20th century, the concept of liberal arts education started to
influence Chinese higher education. The abolition of the century-old civil examination system in
1905 changed the old educational system and universities started to embrace a more inclusive
curriculum with courses in arts, philosophy, science, and languages (Jiang, 2014). Institutions of
higher learning, such as Yenching University, St. Johns, Fudan and National South Western
Associated University, became famous during the Republican (1912–1949) period and many
prominent academicians were produced as a result of the interdisciplinary approaches to integrate
sciences and humanities, which was modeled after Western traditions of liberal arts in cultivating
the whole person (Yeh, 2000). The Sino-Japanese war (1937–1945) and Chinese civil war (1945–
1949) disrupted China’s social economic development. China changed the whole university
system and adopted the Soviet model in response to the country’s urgent need for skilled labors
for post-war development. The Soviet model, which emphasized specialized education, produced
a lot of skilled labor in China (Jiang, 2013). In the 1980s, the national pursuit for science
culminated in a catchphrase of “if you master math, physics and chemistry, you will have no fear
wherever you go” (Sun, 2018). In the 1990s, Chinese universities recognized the need to reform
its higher education system in order to adapt to the rapid transformation of society and the
changing needs of a globalized labor market. They also came to realize that the former Soviet
model had become a barrier for Chinese universities to produce broad-based graduates who can
be creative and competitive in both academic research and technological innovation (Li, 2010).
As China became an important player in the global market, there was a greater need for students
who are equipped with critical thinking, leadership, and English language skills; and China

18
embarked on new explorations of liberal arts education to meet this need. A broad-based liberal
arts education may provide an answer as to how university graduates can navigate through
today’s unchartered terrain and to be prepared for the globalized challenges and job market (Sun,
2018). In response to the changing context, the Chinese government had promulgated a series of
national policies in order to facilitate curriculum reform, such as the Outline of Cultural Quality
Education in 1998, and then the Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-term
Education Reform and Development (Ministry of Education, 2010), which emphasized that the
country shall spare no effort to produce high-end professional and top innovators. At the
university level, some small scale experimental liberal arts school were piloted in a few top
universities in order to cultivate critical thinking, creativity and integrity among students (Jiang,
2014). Sun Yat-sen University implemented an East-meets-West curriculum and embraced cross
disciplinary, liberal education in order to provoke broad thinking among their students (Fischer,
2012). Peking University started liberal arts exploration by initiating the Yuanpei plan, which
included new policies and approaches, including the idea that students do not need to declare a
major when they start college, so that students can choose their courses freely according to their
interests during the first year and students can graduate once they meet the required credit
numbers; and that each student would be assigned an experienced professor as a mentor to help
them with course selection and career advising. After four years of study in Yuanpei program,
the majority of the students graduated said they have benefitted greatly from the program (Chen,
2006). In addition to these efforts from top universities, many other universities have
implemented a general education program to varying degrees. These reform efforts in the
Chinese undergraduate programs, promoted by government officials and university leaders,
originated from one central goal: to produce graduates who can be innovators and inventors
(Fischer, 2012).

19
Liberal Arts Curriculum and 21st Century Skill Development
Liberal arts was an educational approach intended to cultivate good citizens with virtue,
knowledge and eloquence, which are still of great value in the 21st century. Over time, the liberal
arts subjects evolved from the three subjects of grammar, rhetoric and logic to include music,
arithmetic, geometry and astronomy (or astrology) (Tubbs, 2014). Today, liberal arts education
puts strong emphasize on both breadth and depth of knowledge, to ensure a broad knowledge of
culture, science and society, and in-depth exploration in a more specific area of interest (van der
Wende, 2014). In the meantime, liberal arts helps students to develop a sense of social
responsibility and also cultivate much-needed and practical skills such as communication,
analytical and problem-solving ability, and the ability to apply knowledge and skills in a real-
world setting (AAC&U, 2007). Liberal learning is no longer just limited to general education: It
involves any study that fosters the ability to have effective communication, critical thinking,
team work and ethical and responsible behavior (Fong, 2004). The overarching goal of liberal
arts education is to “provide students with the necessary skills to construct lives of substance and
achievement and helping them to become wise citizens” (King et al., 2007, p. 1).
Twenty-first century skills are also called “soft skills,” and generally include
communication skills, problem-solving, creativity, cultural awareness, computer literacy. In a
knowledge-based economy, innovation and global competition requires students to be equipped
with these skills, which enables graduates to be creative, to think critically, be able to solve
problems based on team collaboration and communicate across different languages, cultures and
disciplines. The need for these skills serves as an important argument for liberal arts education to
be implemented in the 21st century (van der Wende, 2014). LinkedIn data also show that liberal
arts graduates join the work force faster than the technical graduates (Ma, 2015). and liberal arts
graduates are found all cross the technology industry. The data reveals that the skillsets

20
developed in a liberal arts education helps students to adapt to various workplaces (Ma, 2015). In
Canada, 20 high-tech company CEOs issued a statement, calling for balanced approach for
education by emphasizing the importance of liberal arts education. They believed key skills
needed in modern corporations are developed in liberal arts education (Luke, 2000). The Wabash
National Study of Liberal Arts Education also showed that the key outcomes of liberal arts and
general education include critical thinking, moral reasoning, socially responsible leadership,
openness to engaging new ideas and diverse people and interest in political and social
involvement among others (The Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, 2008).
Challenges in Delivering Liberal Arts Education in China
The curriculum structure that is widely used in the Chinese higher education institutions
is rooted in history. The major areas of study were mainly based on the country’s economic
development needs in the last few decades (Jiang, 2013). However, as China started to compete
on a global market in the 21st century, the Ministry of Education recognized the need to
restructure the curriculum in order to cultivate graduates to compete in a globalized labor market.
As the Chinese economy became more globalized, there is more urgent need for Chinese
government and universities to reform higher education curriculum in order to cultivate “whole
person” graduates. However, the explorations in liberal arts education by a few major
universities have so far yielded limited results (Jiang, 2013). Chinese universities have
encountered limitations in delivering a true liberal arts education in each of their context. In
traditional Chinese curriculum, many courses are not offered in any particular sequence and lack
clear learning outcomes, practical implementation plans and effective organization. The goal of
those general education courses are mostly intended to expand students’ knowledge, and fulfill
students’ interests. And on the faculty side, due to inadequate knowledge structure, many general
education courses were mostly adapted from existing major courses by making revisions to

21
original teaching plans (Gong, 2011). Faculty may not understand the purpose of liberal arts
education or may not be prepared to teach it. Even though there is a lot of effort on reforming
curricula, faculty may not be adequately trained to be student centered, and to encourage students
to explore and solve problems (Gong, 2011). One attempt to address these challenges and
continue to build liberal arts education has been the expansion of joint venture platforms.
Joint Venture Universities in China
Joint venture universities are commonly called Sino-foreign joint venture (JV)
universities. They are different from collaborative programs or joint programs, which are usually
affiliated with a university; JV universities always have an independent legal entity. Starting in
the early 1990s, Sino-foreign or JV universities and programs have grown rapidly in the last two
decades. While there are problems with the development of these universities and programs,
such as a lack of proper screening of the foreign academic partners (Xu, 2003), these JV
universities and programs have generally enjoyed many benefits in their operations, such as
employing advanced teaching concepts, the use of a student cultivation model, curriculum,
faculty and quality assessment model from the foreign partner university (Lin, 2012). According
to the Ministry of Education, Chinese-foreign JV universities and programs are educational
institutions in China that is a collaboration between a foreign university and a Chinese university
that recruits mainly Chinese citizens as students (MOE, 2019). There are 577 institutions of
higher learning in China that have started collaborative educational initiatives with foreign
educational partners, accounting for 21% of all universities. Among all these collaborative
efforts, about 70 are university-level partnerships, while the rest are mostly collaboration of
colleges or schools under a Chinese university and a foreign university (MOE, 2019).
Partnerships in Sino-foreign Cooperation

22
Since the Measures on the Implementation of the Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in
Running Schools was promulgated in 2004, the Chinese-foreign programs/institutions have
grown in both quantity and quality (MOE, 2019). The educational partners in a joint-program
have to carry out substantial and concrete cooperative agreements related to school facilities,
teaching and management. Joint venture programs bring in advanced educational concepts,
educational content, methods, talent cultivation model and management experience, to promote
disciplinary and faculty development (Lin, 2012). From the experience of Sino-foreign
universities, the benefits are mainly reflected in improved school facilities, frequent international
exchange, diversified education offering, improved English language skills, and advanced
management experiences (Xu, 2003). Advanced foreign educational resources are brought in to
cultivate local talent and to improve the faculty quality in China (Xu, 2003). Multiple formats in
educational foreign exchange and international cooperation is an important part of China’s
national reforms and efforts to open up. Bringing in advanced management experiences,
educational content and funds will be beneficial to China’s educational cause (Lu, Kang, & Yan,
2013).
When China joined the WTO in 2001, foreign educational entities were allowed to enter
China, creating more opportunities for Sino-foreign joint ventures and programs. Joint venture
programs/institutions are receiving more policy guidance from the Ministry of Education in their
development. They have grown in quantity and have become an important supplement to China’s
higher education (Lu et al., 2013). While JV universities can bring advanced educational
concepts, teaching methods and management experiences to China, such educational programs
and institutions can keep students in China, who would otherwise study abroad for an advanced
degree. These new programs and universities developed through the joint venture channel have

23
greatly supplemented the shortage of qualified faculty or facilities in domestic universities as
well (Gu & Xiao, 2003).
Liberal Arts Education in JV Universities
So far, three liberal arts programs are offered in China under joint venture partnerships.
The high quality faculty, open academic environment and low student/faculty ratio have
benefitted students enrolled in these liberal arts programs in the development of critical thinking
skills, cultural awareness, English language skills, leadership and other key skills needed in a 21st
century labor market (Yang, 2017). According to Yang, Chancellor of University of Nottingham
Ningbo China (UNNC), one of the earliest JV universities in China, students at their university
are encouraged to participate in open discussions and to express viewpoints freely (Yang, 2017).
Each student is assigned an advisor with whom they can talk about their interested majors,
individualized study path, and career interests. Small-class discussion is the main format in class
organization (Yang, 2017). Undergraduate class sizes are usually between 16 to 20 students, and
group projects are another feature in these programs. Students will form groups by themselves
and work an assigned project, with each group member contributing to the final project. In
addition to having English as the instructional language, specific English language programs
improve students’ language skills, not only in oral communication, but also academic writing
skills (Yang, 2017). Yang also pointed out in his book “Liberal Arts Education” that the success
of UNNC is a testimony to the importance of liberal arts education. For Chinese higher education
to compete globally, liberal arts education is an important addition to universities. Among the
five basic elements in liberal arts education is the idea of “(to) center on students” and a focus
on teaching students is the top priority (Yang, 2017).
Another example is NYU Shanghai, a collaborative effort between New York University
and China East Normal University in Shanghai. NYU Shanghai, with a total of 1,300 on campus

24
students, seeks to help their students develop the ability to read critically, think analytically, and
write effectively through their English taught liberal arts curriculum (NYU Shanghai, 2019). In
NYU Shanghai, half of the student population is foreign, mainly from the U.S. , and from more
than 70 other nations. Students graduating from joint venture programs always have more
advantages compared to their Chinese counterparts; one advantage in particular is their language
skills, since most of the curriculum in JV programs are taught in English (Ding & Zhao, 2009).
In addition to their language advantage, employers also prefer these graduates because they have
broader knowledge, better cultural awareness, and are more well-rounded in their skillsets (Xu,
2011). The two groups of graduates from NYU Shanghai are no exception. Ninety-four percent
of the Class of 2018 were either taking jobs in fields such as tech, finance, education, consulting,
and the non-profit sector or continuing their educations in graduate school. Fifty-six percent of
graduates were living outside their home country post-graduation. More than half, 53% of the
Class of 2018, entered the global workforce. Graduates working in China reported an average
annual salary of 134,575 RMB. Of these graduates, 21% were working in the tech industry,
representing a 13% increase over the Class of 2017. Of the 41% who were in graduate schools,
10 enrolled in PhD programs (Guo & Jiang, 2019).
University of Thompson, a new joint venture in China, has an organizational goal of
100% placement of its graduates within three months of their graduation. To understand how the
liberal arts curriculum will prepare students with adequate skills for the labor market, the next
section describes knowledge, motivation and organizational influences that may impact faculty’s
implementation of the curriculum.
Faculty Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences
In order to achieve the organizational goal of 100% placement in students’ pursued area
within three months of graduation, the key stakeholder group, faculty, will need to adopt

25
strategies to develop students 21st century skills, such as critical thinking skills, cultural
awareness, IT literacy, communication skills, creativity and problem-solving ability, in the
liberal arts curriculum.
To better understand faculty’s capacity related to implementation, the gap analysis
approach by Clark and Estes was adopted. Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis is an approach to
clarify organizational goals and identify the knowledge, motivation and organizational influences
that impact key stakeholder groups in a systematic and analytic way. The following paragraphs
examined the assumed influencing factors on UOT faculty from knowledge, motivation and
organizational perspectives.
Knowledge and Skills
According to Anderson and Krathwohl (2001), knowledge can be divided into four
categories: 1) factual knowledge, which encompasses the basic elements that individuals use in
communicating about the academic discipline, understanding it, and organizing it; 2) conceptual
knowledge, which includes more complex knowledge of categories and classifications and
relationships between and among them; 3) procedural knowledge, or the knowledge of how to do
something, and essentially, apply factual and conceptual knowledge and; 4) metacognitive
knowledge, which is about cognition in general as well as awareness of and knowledge about
one’s own cognition. Based on the above categories, further analysis will be done to probe into
the knowledge types of the stakeholder group to reach their performance goal.
Knowledge on Liberal Arts Education and its Connection with 21st Century Skills
To have factual knowledge means to have the knowledge of terminology and the specific
details and elements (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). As a foundational knowledge influence, it
is important for the faculty group who implements the liberal arts curriculum to understand the
basic elements that constitute a liberal arts education. Faculty understanding of how liberal arts

26
education fosters key skillsets will influence the kind of teaching strategies they will adopt in
their classes. Oleson and Hora (2014) suggested that while it is important to understand whether
faculty have adequate knowledge about teaching and learning, it is also important to know how
faculty build upon their preexisting knowledge as professional teachers (Oleson & Hora, 2014).
The faculty group in this study came from a variety of different backgrounds, how their liberal
arts knowledge shaped their teaching philosophy and practice is an important area to explore.
Ability to Incorporate Strategies of Teaching Liberal Arts Curriculum into the Teaching Plan
Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) pointed out that procedural knowledge includes the
knowledge of skills, techniques and methods that are subject-specific or discipline-specific. For
faculty to adopt strategies to implement the liberal arts curriculum, it is important to understand
their ability to translate their knowledge of liberal arts education into instructional practice. Key
questions explored in the study include the following: What skills do faculty consider important
for students to develop through college study? How can the liberal arts curriculum help students
develop such skills? And how would they integrate development of these skills in their teaching
strategies?
Ability to Reflect Upon the Effectiveness of Teaching Strategies
Self-knowledge includes knowledge of one’s own weaknesses and strengths in a specific
area (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). While understanding faculty’s foundational knowledge and
their teaching strategies is important, it is of equal importance to understand how they reflect
upon their teaching strategies and whether they are positioned to improvements as necessary.
Given that the organization studied and the curriculum implemented in the organization are both
fairly new, faculty may find it necessary to reflect upon their teaching experience to determine
areas of improvement. They may have experienced success in implementing such a curriculum in
their former organization but need to determine whether is it working equally effectively for a

27
different group of students at a new institution. The new organizational setting may also limit the
implementation of their past experiences. They may also be trying to improve their teaching
strategies through other channels, such as discussing with their peer instructors.
Table 2 presents the assumed knowledge influences of the key stakeholder group at UOT
University (a pseudonym used in order to protect the organization studied). The faculty
knowledge is listed according to the knowledge type.
Table 2
Assumed Knowledge Influences
Knowledge Type Assumed Knowledge Influence
Declarative

Faculty’s knowledge liberal arts education and its connection with
21st century skills.
Procedural

Faculty knowledge of how to implement a liberal arts teaching
plan.
Metacognitive

Faculty ability to reflect on the effectiveness in implementing
liberal arts teaching plan (metacognitive)

Motivation
Knowledge is an important influence of faculty performance in implementing strategies
for teaching a liberal arts curriculum. In addition to knowledge, motivation is another key
influence on performance. Motivation is defined as “the process whereby goal directed activity is
instigated and sustained” (Schunk, Pintrich, & Meece, 2008, p. 4). It impacts individuals’
behavior and their likelihood of successfully achieving a goal (Rueda, 2011). Schunk et al.
(2008) suggested that there are three common behavioral indicators related to motivational
factors: active choice, persistence and mental effort. Active choice refers to choosing to engage
in one activity over another, persistence refers to commitment to pursue an activity over time in
the face of distractions, and effort refers to the mental work needed to generate new learning and

28
knowledge. The underlying motivational constructs examined in this study include utility value,
attributions, self-efficacy and goal orientation (Rueda, 2011).
Faculty Value for Implementing a Liberal Arts Curriculum
Value refers to the importance that is attached to a task, and the more an individual
values an activity, the more likely one chooses to start, to persist and to stay engaged (Rueda,
2011). This study will explore the extent to which faculty are cognizant of these benefits and see
value in them. Faculty at UOT need to see liberal arts education as an important added value to
students’ preparation for the 21st century labor market, and whether they believe students’ critical
thinking skills, language skills and people skills can be improved through the program is critical.
This study will explore the extent to which faculty are cognizant of these benefits and see value
in them. When faculty design their teaching plan, whether they see the added value that liberal
arts education delivers will be an important influencing factor for deciding the kind of teaching
strategies they adopt in their classes. The more they value liberal arts education, the more likely
they will persist in integrating effective strategies in their teaching plan.
Faculty Mastery Orientation to Implement the Liberal Arts Curriculum
Goal orientation is another important influencing factor of motivation. Pintrich (2003)
defined goal orientation as the purposes or reasons for engaging in behaviors. Goal orientation is
categorized into mastery goal orientation and performance goal orientation. While the former
emphasizes the pursuit of new competences, accomplishment of challenging tasks, the latter
focuses more on demonstrating ability in front of others or seeking recognition or rewards or
avoiding consequences. Performance orientation in this context of this study would be present if
faculty only focused on implementing the liberal arts curriculum because of compliance, as
stated in their contract. Mastery orientation would be evident if they saw value in liberal arts

29
curriculum and would make efforts to refine their strategies and consider feedback to improve
their teaching.
Faculty Self-efficacy About Teaching Liberal Arts Curriculum
Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors
necessary to produce specific performance attainments (Bandura, 1997). Motivation and
performance are enhanced when faculty have positive expectations for success. As a focus of this
study, it is important to understand the self-efficacy level of faculty. According to Pajares
(2006), high self-efficacy can positively influence motivation (Pajares, 2006). The motivation
level of a faculty member will be greatly influenced by their own belief as to whether they have
the capacity to teach the liberal arts curriculum. Table 3 presents the three assumed motivational
influences to faculty performance in achieving their goal.
Table 3
Assumed Motivation Influences
Motivation Construct Assumed Motivation Influence
Utility Value Utility Value – Faculty need to see the value in liberal arts
education.
Goal Orientation Goal Orientation - Faculty need to do more than the bare
minimum to master the strategies emphasized in liberal arts
education.
Self-efficacy Self-efficacy - Faculty need to feel positively about their
capacity to teach the liberal arts curriculum.

Organization
It is important to examine the organizational influences relevant to the implementation of
liberal arts curriculum at UOT because faculty performance may be negatively affected if
organizational culture or organizational resources are insufficient (Estes & Clark, 2008).
Organizational issues can result in motivational and knowledge gaps, and are often the
root cause of performance problems (Rueda, 2011). Culture can be analyzed at different levels,

30
from the most visible aspects of the culture, to the underlying assumptions that have been
internalized by individuals operating within the culture (Schein, 2004). Gallimore and
Goldenberg (2010) examined culture using two units of analysis: models and settings. Cultural
models are the shared assumptions and understandings held by an organization’s members
(Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2010). Cultural settings are the visible and tangible manifestations of
culture, such as the physical work environment or the daily routines and practices of an
organization’s members (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2010). An organization’s cultural setting
impacts, and is shaped by, the individuals operating within the cultural model (Rueda, 2011).
This study will examine organizational influences within UOT cultural model and cultural
setting to determine whether there are any gaps.
A University Environment That Values Liberal Arts Education
Gallimore and Goldenberg (2010) pointed out that a “cultural model is constantly created
through the course of daily life, and it is a shared way of perceiving, thinking, and storing
possible responses to adaptive challenges and changing conditions” (Gallimore & Goldenberg,
2010 p. 47). For this study, it is important to explore UOT’s organizational culture in terms of
how liberal arts education is perceived. Without an open and inclusive environment for free
speech and open discussion, it would be hard for faculty to encourage their students to speak up
in their classes.
Faculty are Supported to Focus on Teaching
According to Rueda (2011), “Organizational structures, policies, and practice can
influence whether performance goals of individuals, groups, or entire schools or organizational
units are met” (Rueda, 2011, p. 59). In faculty’s day-to-day work, how their role is defined in the
university structure can affect their performance. It is important to understand the expectations in
faculty job descriptions as they will directly influence their performance goals. If the university

31
expects faculty to deliver research results, research will direct faculty’s work focus and drive
their personal goals. Conversely, if faculty are expected to be more focused on teaching and are
evaluated more from a teaching perspective, it will mostly likely direct teachers to spend more
time on improving their teaching /instruction practice (Nasser & Fresko, 2002). For liberal arts
education, faculty are often not only expected to be outstanding teachers, they are also required
to be actively engaged in scholarship and other creative endeavors as a condition for their tenure
and promotion (Stimpert, 2004). Given the high expectations from faculty in both their teaching
and scholarship, it is important to support faculty to strike a balance between their teaching and
other essential duties. This study will explore the extent to which faculty can be effective
teachers in spite of their competing obligation.
Adequate Resources to Facilitate Faculty’s Teaching
To achieve effective teaching, faculty need help from other academic support units. For
example, whether there is adequate technical support in place to support use of teaching
software. In addition, in the UOT curriculum, fieldtrips are considered as an important co-
curricular component in order to enrich students’ experiential learning experience. Experiential
learning opportunities can enrich liberal arts curriculum by offering a practical learning model
(Diconti, 2004). Supporting students’ experiential learning cannot be solely accomplished by
faculty. The university’s provision of adequate support in terms of material supplies and human
recourses is critical to the implementation of experiential learning. Table 3 presents a list of
assumed organizational influences to faculty performance in achieving their goal.
Table 4
Assumed Organizational Influences
Knowledge Type Assumed Organizational Influence

32
Cultural Model

The university needs to provide a campus environment that
values liberal arts education.
Cultural Setting

The university needs to support faculty to balance their teaching
and other essential duties.
Cultural Setting

The university needs to provide adequate resources to facilitate
faculty’s teaching.

Conclusion
This chapter reviewed the definition of liberal arts education from different perspectives.
It also reviewed the development of liberal arts education from a historical perspective and its
revival in the 21st century. With an aim to develop well-rounded person, the skills emphasized
by liberal arts education are consistent with those essential skills needed in the 21st century labor
market. China’s higher education, while greatly influenced by the Soviet model, is now
reforming to seek the whole person development. The liberal arts exploration has seen both
achievements and limitations on many fronts. In the next chapter, we will explore the
methodology to be used in this research to understand the faculty knowledge, motivation, and
organizational resources needed to reach their goal of designing and executing the teaching
strategies in order to fully implement this new liberal arts curriculum.

33
CHAPTER THREE: METHODS
This study evaluated the implementation of a new liberal arts curriculum as a means to
develop students’ 21st century skills at UOT. The implementation could potentially be examined
from several different perspectives, including students, administrators or faculty. This study
focused on the faculty group who taught in the liberal arts curriculum as the key stakeholder
because faculty, especially those in liberal arts colleges, play a central role in student learning
and engagement in undergraduate education (Rueda, 2011).
This study used qualitative research method to 1) understand faculty’s knowledge and
motivation and how they affect faculty’s performance in implementing the liberal arts curriculum
at UOT; 2) the interaction of the university’s culture and context with their knowledge and
motivation. The following paragraphs will elaborate on the selection of research strategies and
research participants, as well as the rationale behind the selection.
Participating Stakeholders
According to Diane and Preissle (1984), criterion-based selection allows researchers to
develop inclusion criteria to be used in selecting people. This sampling strategy guided my
sampling process in the study. At UOT, there were 80 faculty members from diverse
backgrounds. There were those who have taught in a liberal arts college before they came to
UOT, and those who had no prior experience in teaching a liberal arts curriculum. In addition to
differences in prior experience, these faculty members joined the university at different times.
The university was in a fast growing stage and almost every six months, a new group of faculty
arrive and join the existing faculty team. In order to make sure the faculty participants had
adequate exposure to the curriculum and had enough interactions with students through class
teaching, the study only included faculty who had taught at UOT for six months or more.

34
Interview Sampling Strategy and Rationale
To identify faculty participants in this study, purposeful sampling and snowball sampling
strategies were used (Johnson & Christensen, 2015). The first step was to reach out to the
Faculty Affairs Office (FAO) and tell them about the purpose of this research and the need to
interview faculty that meet my criteria. After getting their approval, I asked the FAO staff to
send a recruitment email on my behalf to faculty members who had worked at UOT for over six
months. The intention was to recruit 10 to 12 faculty members who were available or willing to
participate in the research study. A minimum of 10 participants were expected to be recruited but
the final sample size could be adjusted in the course of the research study, as Patton (2015)
recommended that a minimum size can be specified based on expectation of reasonable coverage
of answers to the research purpose.
Interview Sampling Criterion and Rationale
Criterion 1. Faculty who had prior experience in teaching a liberal arts curriculum in the
U.S.. The United States has many liberal arts colleges and it has recently witnessed the revival of
liberal arts education in the 21st century (Hart, 2001). The purpose of this criterion was to
understand from these faculty the gap between the US liberal arts programs versus the one in
UOT.
Criterion 2. Faculty who came from a Chinese university background. In many Chinese
universities, there have been some attempt in providing liberal arts education or offering general
education courses. However, those attempts have been challenged given that students are very
practical in selecting majors and are very much job-oriented. Faculty who fit this criterion may
potentially compare the liberal arts in UOT with those liberal arts efforts from other Chinese
universities if they had any.

35
Criterion 3. The faculty participants must have at least six months of teaching
experience at UOT. The research participants need to have adequate exposure in this new school
and the experience in teaching this liberal arts curriculum in order to understand the structure and
dynamics in the university.
Document Analysis Strategy and Rationale
In addition to interview, document analysis was also conducted in this study. Documents
that are available can be an important data source for qualitative research (Bryman, 2016). The
documents available for this study included teaching syllabus from interview participants. The
website content that was available to the public, as well as meeting minutes shared by the
university’s undergraduate program office. At the end of each interview session, I asked
interview participants for permission to share with me their teaching syllabus. Regarding the
meeting minutes, I reached out to the undergraduate program office to get their permission for
using their meeting minutes. The document analysis data collected were quickly compared with
the interview data to substantiate the findings (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Document Analysis Sampling Criterion and Rationale
Criterion 1. Faculty who gave permission to me to use their syllabus. During the
interview process, I asked each faculty whether they were willing to have their syllabus shared
with me.
Criterion 2. All the website content of UOT that were publicly available.
Criterion 3. Meeting minutes from the Undergraduate program office that could be
shared.

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Data Collection and Instrumentation
The research interview is “a process in which a researcher and participants engage in a
conversation focused on questions related to a research study” (DeMarrais, 2004, p. 55). To gain
insight on any gaps in knowledge, motivation and organizational culture and context in relation
to faculty’s performance goal, I engaged in a “conversation” with a selected group of faculty
members. Through the interview process, initial findings emerged from the data collected. To
better understand and triangulate the initial findings, document analysis of faculty’s syllabus,
website content and meeting minutes was also conducted. The purpose was to gain firsthand
data, which would also serve the purpose of substantiating the findings (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016).
Interviews
In this research study, faculty were interviewed to understand their feelings, thoughts and
perceptions in implementing the liberal arts curriculum. A total of 11 interviews were conducted
and each interview session lasted from 30 to 60 minutes. The overall interviews were completed
with a three-week period of time, based on faculty availability. The interviews took place on the
campus of UOT because it was convenient for faculty. After faculty participants were identified,
a small team room on the campus was reserved. Coffee and tea were prepared to make the
interview more of a conversational process rather than a formal question and answer format.
The interview was comprised of a list of open-ended questions to be explored, so there
was no exact wording or strict order of the questions. All the questions were asked in UOT’s
working language of English. The purpose of such a semi-structured interview was to respond to
the situation based on faculty participants’ emerging worldview and new ideas on the research
questions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The interview included a list of questions to understand
the potential knowledge, motivation and organizational influences on faculty’s performance goal.

37
Probes are questions or comments that follow up on something already asked (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). During the interview process, follow-up questions were asked in order to seek
more information or clarity about what the faculty just said. In the end, questions like years of
experience at UOT and the courses they taught were also asked. The reason to ask such questions
at the end was to avoid any potential bias in answering other questions. The interview protocol
included an information sheet to let faculty participants understand the purpose of the research,
how the interview data would be used, and how their privacy would be protected in this research.
I also included a request for permission to record the interview session. The participants
were reminded that their participation was voluntary and they could stop the interview at any
point.
Document Analysis
Document analysis was conducted in order to triangulate findings and used together with
interviewing to substantiate the findings (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). After the interview was
done for a faculty participant and permission was given to use their syllabus, their syllabus were
analyzed and coded right after all the interviews were done. Website content and meeting
minutes were also properly coded and analyzed for potential findings.
Data Analysis
For interviews, data analysis began during data collection. I wrote analytic memos after
each interview. I documented my thoughts, concerns, and initial conclusions about the data in
relation to my conceptual framework and research questions. After I finished the interviews, the
recorded interviews were transcribed and coded. In the meantime, I coded the syllabus shared by
interview participants, relevant website content as well as meeting minutes share by the program
office. In the first phase of analysis, I used open coding, looking for empirical codes and
applying a priori codes from the conceptual framework. A second phase of analysis were

38
conducted where empirical and a priori codes aggregated into analytic/axial codes. In the third
phase of data analysis I identified pattern codes and themes that emerged in relation to the
conceptual framework and study questions.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
Credibility and trustworthiness in a qualitative study are crucial because these researches
will have impact on people’s lives (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The first thing to achieve
credibility and trustworthiness is to make sure qualitative research are done in an ethical manner.
It also involves “researcher’s careful design of the study, applying standards well developed and
accepted by the scientific community” (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 238). One assumption
underlying qualitative research is that “reality is holistic, multidimensional, and ever-changing”
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 238). One can never really capture reality (Maxwell, 2013).
Through my faculty interviews and document analysis, I was the primary instrument of data
collection and analysis in this research. I would get closer to “reality.”
To further strengthen the credibility of the research, triangulation was adopted in the
study. Triangulation “increases credibility and quality by countering the concern (or accusation)
that a study’s findings are simply an artifact of a single method, a single source or a single
investigator’s blinders” (Patton, 2015, p. 674). The emerging findings of the interview data were
checked against the data collected through document analysis.
When the interview and document analysis were completed, the findings were shared
with faculty participants for member checking, or respondent validation. “This is the single most
important way of ruling out the possibility of misinterpreting the meaning of what participants
say and do and the perspective they have on what is going on, as well as being an important way
of identify researcher’s own biases and misunderstanding of what are observed” (Maxwell, 2013,
p. 126–127). This step helped avoid bias in the data interpretation or analysis process.

39
In a good qualitative research, researchers need to show convincingly how they reach
their conclusion and they need to be confident that their approach is the best approach possible.
To achieve this, they need to use diary or process logs to present the research process (Richards,
2015). An audit trail in a qualitative research describes in full length the data collection process,
the categorization strategy, the decision-making process throughout the inquiry, or essentially
how the research is conducted, how the data is collected and analyzed (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). In this study, all the verbatim transcripts were prepared according to interview recordings,
to make sure the data was not selectively collected. The data analysis process was also described
in as much detail as possible.
Ethics
In order to find answers to the above-mentioned questions, qualitative research was
conducted and I conducted faculty interviews in the organization that I studied. There are five
basic principles guiding the decisions of IRBs when reviewing applicants’ proposals. Research
subjects must have sufficient information to make informed decisions about participating in a
study; research subjects must be able to withdraw, without penalty, from a study at any point;
also, all unnecessary risks to a research projects must be eliminated (Glesne, 2011). To make
sure these basic principles are strictly followed in my interview and document analysis process, I
first made sure an information sheet was prepared and presented to each of the faculty
interviewed. In the information form, it was stated clearly that the faculty’s participation was
voluntary, and they could withdraw at any time without any penalty at any point. I also adopted
different approaches to make sure their interview data were kept confidential as study
participants also have a right to privacy and confidentiality (Rubin & Rubin, 2012). For this
purpose, all the information related to personal identifiers, such as name or title would not be
disclosed. All information that I received during the interview process, such as recording, email

40
exchanges, or interview transcriptions during the research process would be kept confidential
and stored in a safe folder on my computer with password protection. I also made sure the paper
documents and notes taken during the interview managed carefully. All the paper notes were
scanned and stored digitally before they were shredded. Lastly, when I interacted with each
participant, I made sure I did not influence their responses with other views.
As the researcher, I am also a staff member in the organization to be studied but I had no
supervisory relations with the faculty participants. Glesne (2011) pointed out as researchers
become more involved in fieldwork, they find themselves functioning in a variety of roles
depending upon research purposes and procedures, their own characteristics and personal
attributes of research participants. I was personally familiar with the curriculum and had frequent
interaction with faculty in their teaching process. Another concern was that they might not be
willing to share comments or ideas they perceive as negative. One way to address that was to
consciously consider and protect the privacy of participants, to make sure their confidentiality
well respected.
Limitations and Delimitations
Limitations are, for the most part, potential weaknesses outside of the researcher’s control
(Simon, 2011). This includes how the interviewees respond to the questions presented and the
truthfulness in their responses. The sample itself constituted a limitation of the research study.
During the interview process, when interview participants answered questions, their thoughts,
feelings and opinions and their answers may not be truthful. During the interview and document
analysis process, I, as the researcher, was also part of the instrument. This limitation was
partially addressed by assuring confidentiality in data collection and conducting member checks.
In addition, the organization studied in this research employed English as its work and teaching

41
language, which was not common among other Chinese universities. The findings and
recommendations from the study have their own limitations when applied to other universities.
Delimitations are based on intentional choices the researcher makes, meaning that they
are elements that limit the scope within the research study over which the researcher has control
(Simon, 2011). My own perspectives may also cloud what I saw and what I interpreted in the
data. The research itself is based on the KMO conceptual framework, the influences were
narrowed down from the lenses of knowledge, motivation and organization. The interview
protocol was built upon this conceptual framework and questions were constructed based on the
three assumed influences. Last, I am also an employee at the UOT, and my relationship with the
organization and the research participants may also eschew the answers provided by faculty.
Conclusion
This chapter details the methods in which the research was conducted. Both interviews
and document analysis were carried out to collect data to answer the research questions of this
study. In the next chapter, we will further analyze and synthesize the data in order to understand
the knowledge, motivation and organizational influences that affects faculty to develop students’
21st century skills through the liberal arts curriculum. The results and findings obtained from the
data will be further elaborated in the next chapter.

42
CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS
This dissertation aims to address the issue of students’ skill preparedness for work in a
complex and globalized world. The study used UOT as an example to understand how the liberal
arts curriculum offered in the university prepares its students with 21st century skills for the labor
market. Faculty members are on the forefront of delivering the liberal arts education to students
and are identified as the key stakeholders in the study. A gap analysis was conducted to examine
the knowledge, motivation and organization influences on faculty’s performance. The following
research questions guided this study:
1. What is faculty’s knowledge and motivation related to the development of 21st
century skills through the liberal arts curriculum?
2. What is the interaction between the university’s culture and context and faculty’s
knowledge and motivation?
To find answers to these research questions, a qualitative approach that included both
interviews and document analysis were conducted to collect data. The semi-structured interview
questions were designed based on the assumed influences identified through literature reviews.
Document analysis focused on the university’s website content and the teaching syllabus used by
interview participants. Through both interviews and document analysis, rich data was collected,
analyzed and triangulated to understand the knowledge, motivation and organizational
challenges that faculty encounter in cultivating students’ 21st century skills through the liberal
arts curriculum. In this study, an influence that was validated means that the data revealed a gap,
and changes needed to take place in order to support faculty in achieving their goal. When an
influence was not validated, it means that the issue was already addressed within the
organization of UOT and thus no changes need to happen to achieve the stakeholder goal.

43
The following section in this chapter will be presented according to the KMO framework
to uncover the knowledge, motivation and organizational influences, including assumed
influences that have been validated, those not validated, and new emerging findings identified in
research. The chapter concludes with a synthesized analysis of all the findings and results so as
to inform potential recommendations and recommendations in the next chapter.
Participating Stakeholders
Faculty members at UOT were the key stakeholders in this study. As a new JV university
in China, UOT enrolled more than 500 undergraduate students in two classes who receive liberal
arts education. At the time when this study was conducted, the university had around 80 full-time
faculty members, and about 50 out of them had taught at UOT for more than half a year.
Interview Participants
Invitation letters to recruit interview participants were sent out to those 50 faculty
members who have taught at UOT for more than half a year through the Academic Affairs
Office. Eleven faculty members agreed to participate in the interviews. Among these 11
interview participants, six of them had at least 10 years of teaching experience and were at
associate professor or full professor level. They were considered as senior faculty in this study.
The other five interview participants were at assistant professor level and were considered junior
faculty. In terms of their division, three interview participants came from the Language and
Culture Center, three came from Natural Science division, one from Social Science and four
from Arts and Humanity division. In terms of nationality, only 2 out of the 11 interview
participants were from China. The response rate of Chinese faculty was lower than U.S. faculty
members. This may be an indicator of lower interest on the liberal arts topic among Chinese
faculty and that the liberal arts concept is still relatively new within the Chinese context. Detailed

44
information on interview participants’ role, division and citizenship are included in Table 5. The
table reflects pseudonyms and not the real names of participants.
Table 5
Interview Participants (n=11)
Participant Role(s) Division Citizenship Group
Daniel Professor and Division Chair Language Center U.S. Senior faculty
Mandy Assistant Professor Arts & Humanities China Junior faculty
Brian Professor and Division Chair Social Science U.S. Senior faculty
Billy Professor and Division Chair Natural Science U.S. Senior faculty
Kathy Professor and Division Chair Arts & Humanities U.S. Senior faculty
Andy Associate Professor Arts & Humanities U.S. Senior faculty
Ken Assistant Professor Language Center U.S. Junior faculty
Cindy Assistant Professor Language Center China Junior faculty
Brad Assistant Professor Natural Science U.S. Junior faculty
Bento Assistant Professor Arts & Humanities U.S. Junior faculty
Kelly Professor and Director of
Faculty Affairs
Natural Science U.S. Senior faculty

Document Analysis
All 11 interview participants shared their course syllabus for document analysis. In
addition, meeting minutes from regular Undergraduate Task Force meetings and the university
website were also examined for insight on how the assumed influence affected faculty in their
teaching.
Knowledge Findings
Faculty’s factual knowledge and procedure knowledge of liberal arts education are
important for them to design their teach strategy. Given this, the study mainly focused on
evaluating whether faculty at UOT fully understand what a liberal arts education is and its
connection with students’ 21st century skill development. Further questions were asked to see
how they implement their teachings strategies to develop students’ skills. Metacognitive level
questions were also asked to examine if they reflect on the effectiveness of their teaching plan

45
and whether they aim to improve their teachings strategies. A validated influence means there is
a gap the organization where improvements can be made to support faculty’s teaching. An
influence that is not validated means the issue is already addressed in the organization and no
action needs to be taken in this regard. The validated knowledge influences are listed in the table
below:
Table 6
Summary of Validated Knowledge Influences
Assumed Knowledge
Influence
Findings Validation
Results
Faculty’s knowledge on
liberal arts and its
connection with 21st
century skills.
1. Not all faculty have a solid understanding
on liberal arts education.
2. Faculty members connect liberal arts
education with development of 21st century
skills.
Y

Faculty knowledge of
how to implement a
liberal arts teaching plan.
Faculty adopts various teaching activities to
develop students’ skills in their classes.
N

Faculty ability to reflect
on the effectiveness in
implementing liberal arts
teaching plan
Teaching strategies are constantly finetuned
based on various feedbacks.

N

Knowledge About Liberal Arts Education
Faculty are expected to have in-depth understanding of what a liberal arts education is
and how it is different from other forms of education. The literature review in Chapter 2
discussed how not all faculty who teach a liberal arts curriculum in Chinese universities are well
versed in this curriculum (Gong, 2011). According to AACU (2014), liberal arts education
“adopts an approach to promote integration of learning across the curriculum and co-curriculum,
and between academic and experiential learning, in order to develop specific learning outcomes
that are essential for work, citizenship, and life” (AACU, 2014). Blaich et al. (2004) also noted
that a liberal arts education values inquisitive minds and a critical perspective more than

46
professional or vocational skills. With this in mind, the interview data was analyzed to
understand how UOT faculty were prepared to provide a liberal arts education.
Not All Faculty Have a Solid Understanding of Liberal Arts Education
The interview data found that the majority of the interview participants have some liberal
arts education experience, either as a teaching faculty or as a student. In the interview,
participants were asked to give a brief introduction about their previous experience with liberal
arts education. Ten out of the 11 interview participants said they had taught a liberal arts
curriculum before, with teaching time varying from years to months. Five out of 10 had also
received liberal arts education themselves when they were a student.
The interview participants discussed their various teaching experiences in both liberal
arts education and a non-liberal setting. Having the experience of teaching in a liberal arts setting
previously helped the faculty interview participants appreciate the associated values. The
exposure to a liberal arts education was important for them to understand the value of a liberal
arts education, as indicated by Daniel:
I not only had the experience of being a student in the liberal arts program, but I also got
to see how a program like that works and I was in on a lot of conversations where the
college was trying to explain to parents, to students, to others what the value of a liberal
arts education was.
This was echoed by another interview participant Billy, whose previous employment was in a
large public university. Yet he was quite confident of his understanding of liberal arts education
and said:
I’ve really got a lot of experience with liberal arts education, served as reviewer for
science programs at many liberal arts colleges over the years. I’ve given lectures and
taught parts of courses in liberal arts colleges over the years.

47
Even though the majority of the interview participants had some sort of experience with
liberal arts education, Mandy, a junior faculty member from China indicated no previous
educational or teaching experiences in this regard. She said:
I’m not quite sure if my teaching experience or previous teaching experience was related
to liberal arts education. … I think I’m not entirely sure the distinction between liberal
arts education or just education, or a good education.
While there was no document data available to further examine faculty’s knowledge on
liberal arts education, the interview data reveals that even though most of the faculty, especially
senior and U.S. faculty, had a good understanding of liberal arts education. However, the
Chinese faculty did not feel as confident about their understanding of liberal arts education. A
small number of junior U.S. faculty were more confident due to their previous exposure through
studying in or teaching in a liberal arts program, yet they still had trouble articulating the
difference between a liberal arts education and a professional education.
Faculty Connected Skill Development with Liberal Arts Education
Interview participants discussed the connection between a liberal arts education and
development of an individual’s skills. The Association of American Colleges and Universities
defined liberal education as a way of learning that prepares individuals with communication,
analytical, problem solving and other key skills to solve complex issues in the world (AAC&U,
2007). The data from interview participants found all of them could connect liberal arts
education with a set of skills. Interview participants discussed critical thinking skills,
communication skills, problem-solving skills, reasoning skills and learning skills, which
constitute what we call 21st century skills. All interview participants considered the ability to
learn as one of the most important skills that they try to cultivate, and that a liberal arts program
focuses more on students’ skill development rather than just content-based learning. Don himself

48
graduated from a liberal arts college and then taught for quite some time in a liberal arts program
shared his experience with liberal arts programs:
We’re not so much teaching a specific skill or a specific bit of knowledge that you’ll need
when you graduate a couple of years from now, we’re teaching more basic skills… It
would be, for example, thinking skills, problem solving, the ability to make an argument,
the ability to understand things in depth. You’re teaching communication skills, so
writing, oral communication skills, you’re teaching learning skills, the ability to continue
learning.
This recognition was not limited to experienced senior faculty members. A junior faculty
member echoed this by emphasizing the role of liberal arts education in developing students’
self-reflection and communication skills. Brad said:
[Liberal arts education] has the ability for students to have kind of introspection,
reflection, and communication… their ability to communicate their ideas through verbal
and written mediums. I really think that the liberal arts model amplifies this effect.
Interview participants had a good understanding of the connection between liberal arts
education and individual’s skill development. The document analysis affirmed this finding. The
website of UOT discussed ：
The curriculum at UOT is a 21st century curriculum aimed at building students’ critical
thinking and problem-solving skills, building a broad base of knowledge while
simultaneously fostering the ability to apply that knowledge flexibly. The curriculum is
also deeply cross-cultural in its orientation, challenging students to consider multiple
perspectives and to work together across cultural boundaries.
In addition, the website text also identified the key principles of its curriculum, which includes
rooted globalism, collaborative problem solving, research and practice, lucid communication,

49
independence and creativity, wise leadership and a purposeful life. Many of these are closely
related to the skills needed in 21st century labor market.
Data from both interviews and document analysis showed that interview participants had
a good understanding of how liberal arts education connects with development of 21st century
skills. The assumed influence was readily practiced within the organization, and therefore does
not represent a need for improvement.
Faculty Procedure Knowledge in Teaching Liberal Arts Curriculum
Whether a liberal arts education is successful to a great extent depends on how well the
curriculum is implemented or whether faculty are prepared with adequate procedure knowledge
to teach the curriculum. Liberal arts education had not been successful in many Chinese
universities, and one of the reasons was that some faculty were not prepared to teach the
curriculum. (Gong, 2011). The following assumed influences were examined through interviews
and document analysis.
Faculty Demonstrated Good Mastery of Procedure Knowledge
The interview findings from participants showed that faculty at UOT adopted various
teaching activities to develop students’ skills in their classes. In order for faculty to adopt
appropriate strategies to implement the liberal arts curriculum, it is important to understand their
ability to translate their knowledge of liberal arts education into instructional practice. Through
the interview, faculty discussed different approaches in designing their teaching plan. Four
interview participants used experiential learning in their classes by bringing students on tours for
site visits. One interview participant led students in independent research study. Nine of the
faculty used group projects in their classes by assigning students into small groups to work
together on a project. Students from different cultural backgrounds were purposefully assigned

50
into one group so that when they work together as a team, they could raise their cultural
awareness. Andy stated:
I always try to inject some kind of team projects into the assignments. Also assignments
that develop different types of skill sets, like presentation skills, analytical and writing
skills, creative skills. So I try to create a balance of those different skill sets when I give
the assignments and then I have to think about… So I try to make my classes as
interactive as possible so that the students have a lot of opportunity to share the
knowledge that they’re gaining and to ask questions and to interact with each other and
with me.
These approaches were not just limited to senior faculty members. Junior faculty members
discussed similar approaches when they talked about their teaching plans. One of the interview
participants discussed an orientation program during the onboarding process. The university
designed a series of seminars for new faculty as a part of their onboarding orientation. This
orientation program, called “LIF” by the interview participant, was intended to help faculty
design syllabus that was suitable for the university’s interdisciplinary courses and seven-week
session structure that incorporated active and innovative learning strategies. Ken from the
Language Center said,
I used to just throw it together and here is my syllabus. UOT have a series of seminars
and they were particularly focused on course design and how to be very conscious of
course design… So what I do now is I start with my goals…
All interview participants demonstrated their knowledge in designing an effective
teaching strategy to develop student skillsets, such as problem-solving skills, communication
skills, and cultural awareness in the liberal arts curriculum. This finding was also supported
through document analysis of the syllabi shared by interview participants, which found that all

51
faculty identified the appropriate skill development goals as relevant to their own course. Four of
them identified communications skills and leadership skills as the emphasis of their course. Six
of them focused on the development of critical thinking and analytical writing skills. Discussions
and group work projects were the most frequently used format in classes and were used by all the
interview participants. Eight interview participants adopted at least two forms of class activities
among role-play, field trips, group projects, debates, presentations and research projects in their
teaching.
Both interview data and document analysis showed faculty members at UOT were
equipped with the procedure knowledge needed to implement their teaching of the liberal arts
curriculum. The orientation program offered by UOT provided faculty members with detailed
instruction on syllabus design, class management, and teaching strategies design. Faculty
learned a great deal of procedural knowledge through this session. However, this session only
addressed the question of how to teach a liberal arts curriculum, not what a liberal arts education
is. In terms of procedures knowledge, the assumed influence was already well practiced within
the organization and therefore there is no need for further action.
Self-knowledge at Metacognitive Level
Self-knowledge includes knowledge of one’s own weaknesses and strengths in a specific
area (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2002). Faculty who are able to reflect on their own teaching and
examine their own weakness and strengths better identify what works in their teaching. The
following was discovered through interviews.
Faculty Constantly Reflected on Their Teaching
Interview participants were constantly finetuning their teaching based on various
feedback. On the metacognitive level, questions were asked to understand how faculty make
changes in their teaching plans. Kathy said:

52
All the time I’m adjusting things in a classroom depending on the feel of the class … And
it really depends on the subject, it depends on the group of students that you’re working
with, how big the class is, how the classroom is set up.
In addition to teaching plan adjustment based on class dynamics, interview participants
also said regular peer discussion was a channel for them to reflect upon their teaching
effectiveness. Faculty teaching different courses would share best practices in addressing some
common issues. For example, they shared how they can encourage students to be more active in
group discussions. Faculty members who taught the same course would meet to discuss some
more broad changes in the curriculum based on feedback from their teaching. Ken said “…there
are some broad changes in the curriculum every time we get together as a group and talk about
what kind of changes we want to make.”
The last but equally important source that fed into faculty’s reflection was the course
evaluation findings. According to interview participants, each of their courses were evaluated at
the end of the term. Because the courses at UOT were structured in 7-week sessions, many
courses were offered multiple times in one academic year, which gave each instructor more
opportunity to improve their teaching strategies based on comprehensive feedback from students.
Whether interview participants adjusted their teaching based on class dynamics, peer
discussion or course evaluation results, they were each actively involved in reflecting upon their
teaching plans and made quick adjustments whenever they saw necessary.
There was no document data available to look into whether or how faculty reflected upon
their teaching strategies for improvement. However, interview data demonstrated that faculty
members were actively engaged in multiple ways to improve their teaching effectiveness. The
assumed influence was again well practiced within the community and there is no need for
further action in this regard.

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Motivation Findings
This section of the study aims to identity the motivational gaps to evaluate how
motivation affects the achievement of the stakeholder goal of faculty. Motivation is defined as
“the process whereby goal directed activity is instigated and sustained” (Schunk et al., 2008,
p. 4). It impacts individuals’ behavior and their likelihood of successfully achieving a goal
(Rueda, 2011). In this particular study, three critical motivational factors were identified as
assumed influences which may have an impact on faculty’s capacity to implement their teaching
strategies: self-efficacy, utility value and goal orientation. The interview questions for the
motivation influences were designed to evaluate the motivation levels of the faculty group and
see whether they are actively engaged in pursuing their teaching goal, whether they demonstrate
persistence in achieving their goal, and how much mental effort they are willing to invest in
meeting the goal. Three influences related to these factors have been identified and will be
examined through analysis of findings from the interviews and document analysis. A validated
influence means there is a gap the organization where improvements can be made to support
faculty’s teaching. An influence that is not validated means the issue is already addressed in the
organization and no action needs to be taken in this regard. Below is a table of the validated
motivation influences:

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Table 7
Summary of Validated Motivation Influences
Assumed Motivation Influence Findings Validated
Utility Value – Faculty need to see the
value in liberal arts education.
Faculty see great value in liberal arts
education
N

Goal Orientation - Faculty need to do
more than the bare minimum to master
the strategies emphasized in liberal arts
education.
Faculty Demonstrated High
Expectation in Their Teaching
N

Self-efficacy - Faculty need to feel
positively about their capacity to teach
the liberal arts curriculum.
Even though faculty are confident in
their own ability in offering effective
teaching, faculty’s self-efficacy level is
compromised because of students’
pragmatic mentality.
Y

Faculty Value Teaching Liberal Arts Education
Value refers to the importance that is attached to a task, and the more an individual
values an activity, the more likely one chooses to start, to persist and to stay engaged (Rueda,
2011). The interviews and document analysis examined to what extent faculty are cognizant of
these benefits and see value in teaching liberal arts education.
Faculty Saw Great Value in Liberal Arts Education
All 11 participants interviewed were able to share the values that they saw in liberal arts
education, even though different interview participants, based on the subject areas that they
teach, listed different values reflected in liberal arts education. One important value that was
listed by all 11 interview participants was that liberal arts curriculum could develop student’
“learner autonomy,” to enable students to stay curious and be equipped with appropriate “modes
of inquiry” and methodology to learn new knowledge and skills. “Critical thinking skills” and
“self-reflection” followed “learning ability” and were also both considered important value of
their teaching in the liberal arts curriculum. While all 11 interview participants considered the
development of individual’s skills as the most important value of liberal arts education, one

55
interview participant also considered “knowledge learning” as an important value of liberal arts
education.
Self-learning ability was called by one interview participant as “learner autonomy.” One
interview participant talked about “learner autonomy” from the perspective of cultivating
students’ lifelong learning ability. Three other interview participants focused on the development
of the students’ inquisitive mind. There was also one interview participant who pointed out that
the liberal arts education could prepare students with necessary methodology in order to achieve
learner autonomy. Daniel from the language center responded:
We’re not preparing students for a couple of years from now. We’re preparing them for a
whole career to be able to learn as knowledge evolves as the world evolves. I know that
sounds like an advertising thing, but I really believe it. And I think that, that’s one of the
core features of this form of education.
This belief in preparing students for a whole career was echoed by Bento, who elaborated in his
interview:
So what I’m trying to do is make students motivated to learn more on their own, to
engage more with that subject … So I think this is actually another very important thing
about liberal arts education, which I think we sometimes forget. And a lot of the learning
that the students do during their four years at a liberal arts program is self-actuated
learning.
This interview finding was affirmed by the document analysis of the syllabi shared by
interview participants. In each of their syllabi, the values of liberal arts education were reflected
in each of the teaching goals. All interview participants listed their teaching goals related to the
curriculum, such as critical thinking, research skills, communication skills and etc. One syllabus
shared by the interview participant noted, “ Of the seven Animating Principles of the UOT

56
curriculum, the course most clearly addresses the principles of Rooted Globalism, Lucid
Communication, and Wise Leadership.” And another wrote in her syllabus “ …through this
course, students will 1) demonstrate an ability to select, organize and use relevant information in
structured explanations of the past both independently and as part of a team (Collaborative
Problem-Solving); 2) improve writing skills through the crafting of persuasive essays that make
clear arguments and integrate evidence effectively (Lucid Communication); and 3) practice
evaluating their values in relationship to those of local and global communities in the past and
present (Purposeful Life and Rooted Globalism).” These teaching goals are all clearly aligned
with the seven key principles grounded in UOT’s liberal arts curriculum.
Both interview and the document analysis findings showed that faculty members at UOT
well recognized the value of the liberal arts education, which were also fully reflected in their
teaching plans. This assumed influence was already present in the organization, with no need for
improvement in this regard.
Faculty Do More Than Bare Minimum to Achieve Higher Goal
Mental effort invested in a work goal is one important motivation index that play a key
role in a work environment (Estes & Clark, 2008). As reviewed in Chapter 2, in the liberal arts
programs adopted by Chinese universities, faculty have low expectations on learning outcomes
of general education classes and some students consider these general education classes as
opportunities to take a break from other intensive classes (Zhang, 2006). The low expectation
from both students and faculty resulted in low mental effort invested by faculty in their teaching
process, which in the end, lead to low performance in achieving their educational goals. Given
this, the research participants in this study were asked questions to assess their level of mental
effort invested into teaching. The interview participants were asked how they usually design their

57
teaching plan and how often they adjust their teaching plan to improve the effectiveness of their
teaching.
Faculty Demonstrated High Expectation in Their Teaching
When interview participants were asked how much time they spend preparing for their
class, the answers fell into two categories. All five junior faculty said they spent a lot of time
thinking about how to develop and implement their teaching plans, while the six senior faculty
members who have a great deal of teaching experience said they usually did not need that much
time to prep for their classes. When junior faculty among the interview participants were asked
how they approach their teaching plan, one of them responded that they would first think about
the goal for the course, and then the ways to help students to achieve this goal. Mandy said:
I start with my goals for the course. What do I want students to learn in this course? Then
how will students achieve those objectives? … And then finally I decide how am I going
to evaluate that. Obviously sometimes the activities and evaluations tend to go hand in
hand.
The six senior faculty responded that they need less time for prep because they already had many
years of experience and were familiar with all kinds of class activities to achieve various
teaching goals. They were also well versed in managing different class dynamics. Brian, a senior
faculty member, shared his experience in teaching:
I’ve been teaching for 15 years, with experience, you can reduce the amount of prep time
that you need to do. For a class like mine too, that’s actually very easy because it’s a very
student-driven class.
When asked about if they would make any adjustment when they implemented their
teaching plans, the answers were positive among both senior and junior faculty members. Five of
the interview participants emphasized adjustments were very necessary and they constantly

58
reflected upon their teaching strategy to see if they were effective and how they could improve.
One interview participant said self-reflection was so important that he constantly asked himself
“Can I do this differently or in a way that’s more effective? ” He would monitor his own course
and course delivery to see if there were any improvements that could be made. Another faculty
member indicated in the interview that he would “Try to seek feedback through the evaluations,
and seek feedback even individually from students to find out and make adjustments that way.”
There was no document data available to examine the level of mental effort invested by
interview participants in this study. However, the interview data showed that faculty members at
UOT already possessed a high level of mental effort in their teaching process and there is no gap
to be addressed.
Faculty’s Self-efficacy in Developing Students’ 21st Century Skills
Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors
necessary to produce specific performance attainments (Bandura, 1997). The self-efficacy level
of faculty from UOT were examined through structured interview questions and findings.
Faculty Demonstrated High Level of Confidence in Their Teaching Ability
Faculty were confident about cultivating students’ 21st century skills through their
teaching design. Faculty’s self-efficacy in cultivating students’ 21st century skills through the
liberal arts curriculum is one important factor behind their motivation. All 11 confirmed that they
were confident in their ability in designing and implementing an effective teaching plan to
develop students’ 21st century skills.
Faculty interviewed expressed that they were very intentional in designing their teaching
strategies. Each activity was designed with a purpose for honing students’ specific skills. Nine
interview participants said they used group projects to train students’ teamwork skills. Students
from different cultural background were intentionally put in one discussion group so that

59
students could raise their cultural awareness in the process of their teamwork. Three interview
participants asked students to read extensively on a topic written from different perspectives. The
purpose was to let students be critical in formulating their own thinking or arguments. In general,
faculty adopted a variety of approaches for developing students’ different skillsets, such as
problem-based learning for problem-solving skills, field trips to bring theory back to practice so
as to tackle real life problems, use of computer software to develop their computer skills and
research projects for student research skills, to name just a few. All these strategies were
integrated in the faculty’s teach design in order to prepare students for a career in the 21st
century.
Two interview participants further stressed that with their intentional course design they
had already seen improvements in students’ presentation and teamwork skills. When talking
about students’ teamwork, Kathy stated:
All students working together can make this happen in a way that none of them alone
could do this. The event they did was so successful. We had standing room only and for a
library event and I think they were very proud of what they achieved (in) the end. And so
I feel like they got a couple of different things. The deeper understanding of the material
but also a deeper understanding of how teamwork works and how to think about things
and present it to other people.
This interview finding can be affirmed by the document analysis of a year-end student
evaluation report obtained from the university. In the evaluation report, students reported
different levels of improvement in their critical thinking skills, communication skills, problem-
solving skills and etc. This self-reported improvements supports the finding that the faculty’s
teaching efforts are effective in developing students’ skills.
A Pragmatic Mentality Among Students and the Chinese Society

60
Mandy from the Arts & Humanities Division noted during the interview that she felt
frustrated when she talked to one of her advisees about taking certain courses. The student was
very practical in taking courses and only wanted to take economic classes or computer science
classes. She experienced difficulty in trying to talk students into taking history or other
humanities courses because students consider such courses “useless.” She also pointed out that
this is a trend in the Chinese society:
I’m not sure how confident I am to see us using that tool to deliver the outcome. And it
was not because there’s any problems with liberal arts education. It was because we are
facing a very strong enemy...There is a global trend now pushes students to become profit
driven. There was a lot of anxieties going on about learning something useful, practical,
pragmatic, and we’re fighting against that, and it’s really hard. And I don’t blame our
students, because I know, I understand how anxious they are. It is not their fault. It’s the
whole structure, environment we live in.
To summarize, even though all the interview participants felt confident about their own
ability in designing and implementing an effective teaching strategy to develop students’ skills,
there were concerns among them that the students’ practical mentality may distract them from
focusing on their skill development, thus reducing faculty’s self-efficacy level. This efficacy
issue is not because of interview participants’ own ability deficiency, but a utility and practical
mentality among students and the society, which is contributing to faculty doubt of their efficacy
level in developing students’ 21st century skills through the liberal arts curriculum. This gap in
faculty’s self-efficacy presents a need for improvement within the organization.

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Organizational Findings
This section of the study aims to identify the organizational gaps that affect the
achievement of the faculty’s goal. Inefficient and ineffective organizational work processes and
material resources can also lead to a faculty’s performance gap. Given this, the interview
questions for the organization influences were structured in a way examine the organizational
model and settings at UOT and to better understand how faculty members are affected in
achieving their performance goal. A validated influence means there is a gap the organization
where improvements can be made to support faculty’s teaching. An influence that is not
validated means the issue is already addressed in the organization and no action needs to be
taken in this regard. Below is a table of the organizational influences and validated status,
Table 8
Summary of Validated Organization Influences
Assumed Organization Influence Findings Validated
Cultural Model – The university needs to
provide a campus environment that values
liberal arts education.
There is a need for the university to
better define its liberal arts concept.
Y

Cultural Setting – The university needs to
free faculty from non-teaching work.
The university Faculty generally
has heavy work load in UOT
Y

Cultural setting – The university needs to
provide adequate resources to facilitate
faculty’s teaching.

1. Conducive collaboration on
academic front;
2. Non-academic support to
facilitate faculty’s teaching.
N

N/A Lack of comprehensive assessment
tool for student skill development.
Emerging

University Culture of Liberal Arts Education
As a JV university offering liberal arts education in the Chinese context, it is important
for the organization to build a liberal arts culture within its own community. Without this
organizational culture, it might compromise faculty and students’ understanding of liberal arts

62
education and the achievement of the curriculum goal. The interview questions and document
analysis revealed the following findings.
There is Need for the University to Better Define its Liberal Arts Concept
Two interview participants said during the interview that even though the university
clearly positioned its undergraduate degree program as a liberal arts program and published all
the principles about its curriculum, there is a lack of understanding of what a liberal arts
education really is within the community. One of the interview participants pointed out even
though the university has its “animating principles” and they reflect the feature of the curriculum
at UOT, a liberal arts education is not just about a curriculum. Its core characteristics should also
be reflected in aspects of students’ residential life, and faculty student relations. Ken said:
I don’t think the animating principles were really designed exactly for this [to fully reflect core
characteristics of liberal arts education], but it would be something like that. It’s a list and
in a sense then when we’re orienting faculty we’re saying, these are some foundational
ideas that we’re all working from.
UOT, as a JV university in China, enrolls about two-thirds of Chinese students of its
student body. A majority of the work staff are Chinese. Even though many of the faculty
members came from U.S. or European countries, they do not necessarily have previous liberal
arts exposure. In the Chinese context, liberal arts education is still a relatively alien concept.
Daniel pointed out:
During the faculty onboarding orientation, we received good training on teaching
strategies but still I don’t think we have a consensus on what exactly we mean by that
term [liberal arts education]. We all define it our own way. It’s partly about what the term
means, but it also has to do with the value of it and why are we doing this.

63
The document analysis of the university website affirmed this finding. By doing a quick
search of “liberal education” on the website of UOT, the search results had only one activity on
promoting the liberal arts concept within the community. It was a book club activity to read and
discuss the book “In Defense of Liberal Education.” All others were content describing the
liberal arts curriculum itself. The university may not doing enough in promoting the liberal arts
concept to its community members. The university wide culture on liberal arts education is
identified as another gap that needs improvement.
University Policy on Faculty Work Load
China had many educational reforms in the past few decades. However, improving
faculty teaching and increasing their motivation to deliver more effective teaching has not been
successful. One reason is that faculty in higher education institutions in China are evaluated on
the number of papers published, and research is considered overwhelmingly more important than
teaching (Zhou & Zhang, 2007) Without a conducive organizational culture and supportive
policy, faculty cannot fully focus on teaching, not to mention teaching effectively to cultivate
well-rounded students. The following findings were identified in the interviews.
Faculty Work Load
In the interview, a question was asked to understand what the university expected a
faculty member to deliver. One interview participant shared that the university expected a full-
time faculty to spend 40% of their time on teaching, 40% on research and the rest, 20%, on
service, which includes, serving on various university committees. All 11 interview participants
said that the overall work load from research, teaching and service was quite heavy. When they
try to do one thing well, it was hard for them to have enough time and effort for another.
Five interview participants also carried administrative roles. A look at their teaching
experience shows that they had, on average, more than 10 years of teaching experience. When

64
they were asked about views about their workload, they all admitted that their administrative
obligation took a lot of their time. Such work include curriculum design and review, and course
planning. Two interview participants pointed out that because the curriculum at UOT is quite
new, it needs constant revision and finetuning, which would demand faculty time commitment in
the course implementation process. Another interview participant stated that the university
expected them to be research scholars, but the administrative work may be too much. She also
emphasized that the teaching at UOT was very intense and one-on-one. She had to work
overtime in order to balance administrative work and teaching. Kathy shared her experience:
The administrative work had been very demanding and took up so much of my daytime
that I had to do my class prep work at 11:00PM. I just didn’t have a chance to do it.
Course preparation had always been my top priority before I came to UOT but here, I just
had not been able to.
For the five faculty who had administrative positions, they had a lot of previous teaching
experience and they generally need less time in preparing for an effective class. They know
which teaching strategies to use in order to achieve certain outcomes. In spite of the high-
demanding administrative work, they felt they were affected less due to their teaching
experiences. Brian said:
Service could affect everything, but as someone who’s more experienced, I think that it’s
going to affect me the last…I think service is really a danger for more junior faculty who
are less experienced as teachers and therefore either over prep or just need to prep for.
This concern was shared among junior faculty members who were interviewed. Even
though they did not have administrative roles, they spent more time on prepping their classes. In
addition, they had more research pressure as they move along their career path. Cindy, a junior
faculty among the interview participants said,

65
I think there’s a natural challenge that people encounter when making such a transition.
How do I kind of have the work-life balance? I honestly don’t have a life right now. And
how do I balance teaching and research because there’s the research component in terms
of my tenure and promotion aspect.
Other than the general heavy workload expressed by both senior and junior faculty, the
interviews also showed a tendency of working overtime within the UOT community. On the
positive side, the community members showed a high level of dedication and motivation. People
were willing to work extra to build a new university. However, one interview participant
expressed concern over such work culture. As much as many faculty came to this university
prepared to do extra work, as time goes by, too much overtime will not be sustainable. Another
interview participant attributed this culture to the fact that “It’s a startup institution, because
everything’s new and everything’s getting built out.” He further pointed out that “…there is a
lack of work-life balance.” Kathy further shared her struggle in trying to achieve work-life
balance:
I think I always felt like I could do three things at once... So maybe it’s teaching, research
and take care of my children, but to do teaching, research, take care of my children and
lots of service work and administrative work. It’s up to four and I can’t…there are two
things that I can’t drop off, my children and my teaching. So really I only have space for
one other thing. I don’t think you can balance otherwise.
There was no document analysis data to examine faculty’s work load. But interview data
showed that the current workload presented a barrier for faculty to achieve a work-life balance
and work effectively towards their goal. There is need for improvement on university policy in
this regard.

66
University Resources that Support Faculty Teaching
Organizational goals are achieved through an interactive process among various players
within the organization and faculty should be provided with support to achieve their goal. It is
important to understand how faculty are supported in their teaching process. The following data
were obtained through the interviews.
Academic Support Available to Facilitate Faculty’s Teaching
Interview participants unanimously expressed their satisfaction with the academic
support that they enjoyed in their teaching process. One key aspect that interview participants
mentioned was the support they got from the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL).
According to one interview participant, CTL had been involved throughout the whole
development of a class, from the setup of a course learning site to class strategy design. They
provided workshops for faculty to get ideas and implement them right away. Another interview
participant echoed this and said “CTL observed my classroom and provided a good feedback that
I feel was helpful for me to improve some kind of classroom strategies.”
In addition to CTL, faculty also gave credit to library support for the success of their
classes. Library staff often went to classrooms and shared information on how to do research and
access online resources.
Non-Academic Support for Co-curricular Activities
Interview participants also discussed the support available to them on the non-academic
side. Five interview participants said they got support from the undergraduate program office on
logistics when they arranged field trips for their classes. One interview participant said he would
not have been able to do field trips without support from the program office. As an important
component of experiential learning, field trips were a great way to link theory and practice. But

67
fieldtrips involved a lot of logistics. Bento said that he would not be offering field trips if it was
not for the support from the program office:
I don’t feel like I would be inclined to want to tackle a field trip if the staff support was
not as good as it was. But that gives me every confidence that I have no problem planning
a field trip that would be able to be executed.
This finding was affirmed by an analysis of the syllabi shared by interview participants.
Ten out of the 11 interview participants listed field trip as one of their class activities in their
syllabi. One interview participant who taught a religion class took students out for a temple visit.
Another took students to a lake for a water research project in an ecology class. Both document
analysis and interviews show that the organization had a good supporting structure in place to
facilitate faculty’s effective teaching. The assumed influence is readily practiced within the
organization and there is no need for action in this area.
Lack of Comprehensive Assessment Tool for Student Skill Development
One faculty noted out that the current grading system focused too much on the
assessment of short-term achievement and the exams only evaluated measurable achievements of
students. Many soft skills or 21st century skills that they would like students to develop are not
easily measured through exams. In order to achieve better grades in exams, students were not
very active in participating in class activities that are intended to cultivate their certain skills.
Instead, they paid more attention to those assignments that would give them a better grade.
Understandably, grades are intended to evaluate an individual student’s performance in a course,
but they may not measure student learning across courses and programs. Although grades are
often treated as a measurement for student learning, they are not always a reliable measure. In
the interview process, two interview participants said UOT attached too much importance to
students’ grades. Both the university’s honor and scholarship criteria were attached to students’

68
GPA. Students were unduly worried about their immediate grades, rather than focusing on long-
term skill development. Brian pointed this out multiple times in the interview,
I think the fact that we have grades and this grading system gets in the way of [the
actual]... our role as instructors because oftentimes students’ get really fixated on the
grade as if that determines what they’ve learned.
He believed that the current student assessment system is affecting his teaching results. He
added:
The A or the B is not the mark of how much they’ve learned or how much they’ve gained from
that course. So I think we have to get out of the mentality that it’s all about grades, it’s all
about your GPA, what subject you took, what major you did… I think a lot of learning
takes place outside of the classroom. When they sit down with their friends and talk about
these same issues or they see their friends show up at that event where we talked to.
There’s so much learning going on that can’t be captured in and these traditional
assessments we use.
Andy echoed this point and raised his concern about students’ focus on grades. He
pointed out that there was so much learning happening outside of the classroom. When students
talked to each other or talked to their faculty, they were all learning. He said:
Students are not visiting faculty often enough during their office hours because students are all
been conditioned to think that the grades and what they’re doing in the class and the
assignments are what’s really important. When students are too fixated on their grades,
they tend to miss out on opportunities to hone their skills.
The document analysis of meeting minutes of the UOT task force meeting testified to this
concern raised by interview participants. The meeting minute indicated that there was grade
inflation across the board in the undergraduate program at the university. The reason described in

69
the document was that students’ scholarships were attached to their GPA. While students were
motivated to study hard for a better grade, faculty were also to some extent influenced by this
policy and ended up giving students higher grades. Faculty did not want students to lose their
scholarship because of the grades given by them. This finding does not fall into any of the
assumed influences and is an emerging finding through the interview process.
Summary
Interview data and document analysis showed that faculty at UOT had good knowledge
in designing and implementing an effective teaching plan of the liberal arts curriculum. They
were highly motivated to develop students’ 21st century skills through the liberal arts curriculum
because they deeply believed in the value that the liberal arts curriculum could bring to students.
The data also showed faculty had a high level of confidence in their teaching and constantly
reflected upon their teaching effectiveness. Faculty received a lot of support from offices within
the university to achieve better teaching result.
However, data from both interview and document analysis also showed gaps where
improvement could be made. There was a lack of understanding of liberal arts education among
community members and the overall culture on liberal arts education was perceived as low
within the community. The workload for faculty, especially for junior faculty was too heavy and
their time spent on teaching preparation was limited. In addition, a comprehensive student
assessment mechanism was missing in the university and students were too focused on their
grades, which also needs to be addressed. Recommendations and evaluation plans will be
presented in Chapter 5.

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CHAPTER FIVE: RECOMMENDATIONS
This study examined through both interviews and document analysis whether assumed
influences in areas of knowledge, motivation, and organization impacted faculty members’
ability in implementing their teaching strategy to develop students’ 21st century skills at UOT.
Interview data from 11 interview participants and the analysis of their teaching syllabus, meeting
minutes and website content validated four of the nine assumed influences in the areas of
knowledge, motivation and organization as outlined by Clark and Estes’ gap analysis (2008).
There was also one emerging finding related to the organizational influence surfaced through the
data collected.
These validated and emerging findings will be further presented in this chapter together
with proposed recommendations related to those findings. This chapter will also propose an
implementation and evaluation plan to examine the effectiveness of the recommendations. The
chapter will conclude with a brief summary of the limitations of this study and a discussion of
considerations for future research.
Key Findings
Through the data collected from interview and available documents, four out of the nine
assumed influences were validated. The four influences include one knowledge factor, one
motivation factor and two organization factors. In addition, there was one emerging finding
related to the cultural setting within the organization. All these validated influences are gaps in
knowledge, motivation and in the organization where potential improvement can be made so as
to improve the work of the faculty within the university.
As identified in the previous chapter, interview results from participants and analysis of
available documents, such as syllabus, meeting minutes and website content, show that there was
a knowledge gap among some faculty in their understanding of liberal arts education. With the

71
motivation influences, interview participants expressed a strong belief in the value of liberal arts
education and they contribute more than the bare minimum to achieve a higher goal in their
teaching. Faculty members were confident in their own teaching; however, they were concerned
that the pragmatic mentality among students and the society would distract students from
focusing the development of their 21st century skill . Lastly, data from both interview and
document analysis identified gaps in the organization affecting faculty’s ability to achieve their
performance goal. Each of these gaps reflects needs to be addressed in the areas of knowledge,
motivation and organization. These influences are summarized and shown in Table 9 below.
Table 9
Validated Influences
Gap Analysis
Factor
Validated Assumed Influence
Knowledge X Faculty’s knowledge on liberal arts education.
Motivation X Faculty need to feel positively about their capacity to develop
students’ 21st century skills.
Organization X The university needs to provide a campus environment that
values liberal arts education.
X The university needs to free faculty from non-teaching work.
Emerging Student assessment mechanism poses a barrier to achievement of
faculty’s performance goal.

Recommendations
The assumed influences were grouped based on the three categories of knowledge,
motivation and organization. However, the validated knowledge influence and motivation
influence are closely connected with the organization and will need to be addressed from the
organizational perspective. For example, the knowledge gap identified among faculty actually
connects to how the liberal arts concept is promoted within the organization. Liberal arts
education is an alien concept in the Chinese context. The organization needs to fully integrate
this liberal arts concept into the community activities so that the concept can be embedded within

72
the community culture. While the university has already done a good job in branding its liberal
arts curriculum and identifying its key features, it can further articulate the idea of liberal arts
education and its differences from other forms of education. On the aspect of faculty motivation,
faculty’s efficacy level is compromised because of students’ pragmatic mentality. To address the
gap existing in faculty’s knowledge and motivation, the fixes should come from the
organizational level. Thus, the influences are regrouped into the following order. See table 10.
Table 10
Validated Influences in Order of Recommendations
Recommendations Gap Analysis
Factor
Gaps to be addressed

Recommendation 1

Organization
culture

Factual
knowledge

Self-efficacy
The university needs to provide a campus
environment that values liberal arts education and
promote the culture within the community.

Faculty’s knowledge on liberal arts concept at UOT.

Faculty need to feel positively about their capacity to
develop students’ 21st century skills.
Recommendation 2 Organizationa
l setting
Student assessment mechanism poses a barrier to
achievement of faculty’s performance goal.
Recommendation 3 Organizationa
l setting
The university needs to free faculty from non-
teaching work.

The table above provides a structure in which the five gaps are put in three groups and
addressed by three recommendations. The first recommendation is focused on the branding of
the university’s liberal arts concept and to add a specific component to the faculty onboarding
orientation program. The second recommendation will center on the establish a comprehensive
student performance evaluation plan and evaluate students’ skillsets on a yearly basis so as to
effectively track students’ skill development. The third recommendation is focused on a support
mechanism for junior faculty by establishing a faculty mentoring program.

73
In the sections that follow, each of the three recommendations will be presented in detail,
and the primary components or themes of each recommendation will be described.
Subsequently, specific interventions will be outlined, responsible staff suggested, and timeframes
for implementation established. Where additional resources or support are required, they will be
identified and discussed.
Proposed Recommendations and Implementation Plan
Recommendation One: Integrate the Idea of Liberal Arts Education in University Culture
and Include a Specific Session in the Orientation Program for New Faculty
This recommendation calls for the university leadership to further promote the liberal arts
concept within the community. One specific task is to add a session to the new faculty
orientation program. Liberal arts education, despite its long history, its meaning and nature have
been contested during certain times in the past. The definition of liberal arts education has been
debated throughout history in general (Kimball, 2010). In China, even though there has been a
lot of effort to pursue liberal arts education, the core concept varies among different groups of
people. The terms of “general education” and “liberal arts education” are always used
interchangeably among many Chinese policy makers, university administrators, faculty and
students (Jiang, 2014). The influences validated in the previous chapter is consistent with this.
Given this, it is important for the UOT leadership, especially the academic leadership to
articulate the concept of liberal arts within the Chinese context and further promote this concept
both within the community and market this idea externally to prospective students and their
parents.
Because UOT is new and has been only in China for only a couple of years, to brand a
new curriculum and educational concept in this new market will be challenging. The university
has already clearly articulated the nature of its program and innovations from similar programs

74
offered by peer colleges and universities. The university needs to be more proactive in
advertising this concept. This can directly address the knowledge gap identified among faculty
group in the previous chapter. Faculty members have good procedural knowledge in teaching the
curriculum to develop students’ 21st century skills. However, clear understanding of a liberal arts
education especially the one offered at UOT is admittedly lacking among some faculty members.
The university already has a strong orientation program in place, but it might have assumed that
all faculty already had a good understanding of the concept of liberal arts education. The
orientation program focuses on training for effective teaching strategies. Adding a session to
introduce the general concept of liberal arts education to newly hired faculty members would be
important.
This process sounds simple but in order to maximize the effect, it calls for the FAO,
which is responsible for the new faculty orientation program, to think carefully about the design
of this session. They need to bear in mind that the purpose is not just to introduce a concept but
to find out how these new faculty can identify themselves with the liberal arts culture at UOT,
such as the mission of the university, and the animating principles of the curriculum. In spite of
the subject knowledge that new faculty have already mastered, it is important for them to
understand and know how to integrate various teachings strategies with their subject knowledge.
The session can start with an introduction from the Dean of Curriculum Affairs to talk about the
general concept of liberal arts curriculum, why this curriculum is offered at UOT and its key
feature. There could be experience sharing from faculty who have prior experience teaching a
liberal arts curriculum. There could also be discussion of anticipated barriers of implementing
such curriculum in a Chinese context. This will help new faculty to be prepared of potential
challenges they may come across in their daily interactions with students.

75
While utilizing internal resources for such session will be the main part, external
resources can also be involved, such as guest speakers from peer universities with similar
programs. This will allow faculty to have a macro level understanding of the liberal arts
program offered at UOT.
In terms of timeframe of this recommendation, the university effort in integrating the
liberal arts concept in various university activities should be an ongoing effort. The university is
still at the startup phase and is scaling up fast in the next few years. As mentioned in earlier
chapters, the university’s new faculty will double in the next three to five years when it gets to
full capacity. As new faculty members come on board every year, this updated orientation
program will be implemented every year until the faculty team stabilizes.
Table 11

Recommendation 1: Recommendation, Responsible Unit, Steps for Implementation and
Timeframe

Recommendation 1: To integrate the idea of liberal arts education in university culture
and include specific session in the orientation program for new faculty
Responsible Unit Steps for Implementation Timeframe
Vice Chancellor for
academic Affairs
(VCAA)

UOT leadership start the initiative to integrate liberal
arts concept in various university activities, so as to
embed the liberal arts concept in the university culture.
Ongoing
effort
Committee on New
Faculty Orientation
Program

Get approval from VCAA for an updated orientation
plan;
Design the new session introducing the general concept
of liberal arts;
Three
months
Director of Faculty
Affairs

Implement the new orientation program every year for
new hire faculty
Three to
five years

Recommendation Two: Implement a More Comprehensive Student Assessment Plan
The interview data showed that interview participants see great value in the liberal arts
education offered at UOT and are highly motivated to reflect upon their teaching in order to

76
achieve better teaching outcomes. However, their confidence around developing students’ 21st
century skills through their teaching was compromised because students had very pragmatic
mentality and were very much focused on their grades. The data from both interview and
document analysis show faculty were confident in their own teaching, but if students do not
recognize the importance and value of various activities designed to develop their 21st century
skills, their effectiveness will be much compromised. This recommendation will focus on how to
change students’ perspectives on grades. Traditionally, grades are considered as an important
measurement of students’ performance and achievements. However, for an education aimed at
developing students’ 21st century skills, the student assessment tool should involve more than
just the grades.
At the moment, the only student assessment tool in the university is their regular final
exams at the end of each semester. It is imperative for the university to adopt other assessment
tool and promote them among students. The new assessment tool should focus more on students’
skills, especially their critical thinking, communication, team work and problem-solving skills.
In order to effectively teach these skills will necessitate a shift toward more “authentic”
assessment (Bell, 2010). An authentic and comprehensive assessment mechanism is needed to
supplement the current student assessment system to make sure the assessment is not just about
what knowledge students have learned but also how skills are developed through the curriculum.
This process should be initiated by the Dean of Undergraduate Studies and be
implemented by the Assessment Office. To get started, the office can research existing
assessment programs adopted by those top liberal arts colleges in the US and other countries. By
examining the existing assessment programs, the office can consider how these programs would
work with the features of UOT curriculum, the mission, its student body characteristics, as well
as the administrative structure at UOT to determine what is feasible. After the assessment tools

77
are identified, an implementation plan also needs to be put in place. Skill progress cannot be
easily assessed during a short span of time. The assessment plan should be implemented on a
yearly basis. By giving students this annual assessment and generating an individual report
describing students’ current skill level, where things should be improved and how they can be
improved, students would have a better understanding of themselves and make adjusted learning
strategies in the future.
The development of this plan will take about six months, including the research of
existing assessment program, redesigning the program based on the curriculum offered at UOT
and then finalizing the assessment plan. Once the assessment plan is ready to be implemented,
the administration will need to communicate the purpose and the mechanism to students to make
sure they fully understand that this assessment is an integral part of the curriculum. Every four
years, the assessment plan need to be reviewed to have a full picture of students’ progress
throughout the four years of their study, and to examine the effectiveness of the assessment and
make necessary adjustments.
Table 12

Recommendation 2: Recommendation, Responsible Unit, Steps for Implementation and
Timeframe

Recommendation 2: To design and implement a more comprehensive student
assessment plan.
Responsible Unit Steps for Implementation Timeframe
Dean of
Undergraduate
Studies
Recognize the need for a comprehensive assessment
tool;
Mandate the Assessment Office to implement such
strategy;
Two weeks
Assessment Office

Research existing assessment tolls used by peer
universities;
Design the assessment tool by combing the feature of
UOT curriculum;
Implement the Assessment tool on a yearly basis
Three months

Three months

Yearly basis

78
Table 12, continued
Assessment Office
together with
Undergraduate
Program Office
Review students’ four-year progress and identify
criteria that work well and those don't;
Revise and improve the assessment tool based on
review result.
Every four
years

Recommendation Three: Establish a Faculty Mentoring Program
A general concern surfaced among junior faculty members is that they were struggling to
strike a balance among their teaching, research and personal life. Junior faculty members usually
needed more time to prepare for their classes and they were faced with more pressure in their
research. They always ended up with working extra hours in order to keep up with multiple
obligations. In order to address this, mentorship between senior faculty members and junior
faculty members can be set up so that more experienced faculty can provide guidance to newer
faculty to provide appropriate guidance and to help them navigate scholarly independence,
further develop teaching skills and build professional networks. Mentoring has been proven to
increase research productivity (Bland et al., 2002) and to increase faculty retention, productivity
and satisfaction. At the same time, mentoring may also promote a more positive organizational
culture (Wilson & Elman, 1990). In this mentoring program, senior faculty members can advise
on overall professional goals, independent scholarship and for the development of teaching
skills.
To get this implemented will need to start with the senior leadership of the university.
The Director of Faculty Affairs will need to work with division chairs to first identify and report
the challenges faced by junior faculty members to the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and
make him aware of this issue and point out the current model is not sustainable and may
compromise teaching quality and potentially led to faculty retention issue. Once the senior
leadership is aware of this issue, the Director of Faculty Affairs can propose the faculty

79
mentoring program to VCAA. The proposal should include how senior faculty members are to
be recruited/identified, mentor roles, the relationship between senior and junior faculty members,
as well as expectation of the program.
In terms of the timeline for this recommendation, the change can be put in motion right
away. It may take a month or so to get the proposal approved by the VCAA. The implementation
of the program should be on a three to five year span so that junior faculty can have enough time
to benefit from the mentorship and see change in their scholarship, teaching skills and overall
work satisfaction.
Table 13

Recommendation 3: Recommendation, Responsible Unit, Steps for Implementation and
Timeframe

Recommendation 3: To establish faculty mentoring program
Responsible Unit Steps for Implementation Timeframe
Director of Faculty
Affairs Office and
Division Charis
Discuss the fact of junior faculty member’s struggle in
balancing teaching, research and personal life
One week
Vice Chancellor
for academic
Affairs (VCAA)

To recognize the fact the current model for junior
faculty members is not sustainable;
Approve the proposal submitted by Director of Faculty
Affairs
One month
Faculty Affairs
Office
Recruit mentor and pair up senior and junior faculty
members, setup mentoring expectations
Three to five
years

Evaluation Plan
In order to examine the effectiveness of the proposed recommendations, the four-level
evaluation model by Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick (2006) is used in this study. This evaluation
model suggested that interventions can be evaluated from the four levels of reaction, learning,
behavior, and results/impact (Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick, 2006). The following paragraphs will

80
elaborate in detail how the three recommended recommendations can be evaluated from each of
these four levels.
Level One: Reaction
Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick point to the importance of assessing reaction and learning prior
to measuring behavior and results. The first two steps should not be skipped to get to level 3 and
4. For each of the recommendations noted above, it is important to understand the reactions of
the intended audience because their interest, attention, and motivation has a direct impact on the
effectiveness of the interventions (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2006).
Faculty members, as the key stakeholder in this study, their reaction to the newly added
session that introduces the liberal arts concept should be evaluated. A survey can be designed for
this purpose and be distributed right at the end of the session to make sure the response rate is
high. Questions such as “how do you rate the theme of this session?” or “Do you find this
session useful?” and “what do you think of the structure of the session?” can be included in the
survey. In addition, the members who have designed this session can also sit in the session to
observe whether faculty participants seem engaged or actively participate in discussions. All
these will be useful feedback to inform the designers if the session is well received by
participants and where it can be improved. For the second recommendation of putting in place a
more comprehensive student evaluation tool, a survey can also be sent out to collect faculty
members’ reaction to this new evaluation tool. Faculty feedback can also be used to inform the
design and implementation of the tool. The last recommendation is to establish the faculty
mentoring program. For this recommendation, a survey can be sent to junior faculty members to
see if they feel the program is helpful. Detailed plans of Level One measurement related to each
recommended recommendation are detailed in Table 14.

81
Table 14
Intervention Assessment Level One: Reaction
Level One: Reaction
Recommendation
Category
Recommendation Methods of Assessment
Increase faculty’s
factual
knowledge and
build
organizational
culture
UOT leadership will identify and provide
a set of defining features associated with
the liberal arts education provided by the
university and embed the liberal arts
concept into various activities within the
community.
Such features will be posted
on the website of UOT. By
tracking the webpage track
can help understand the
community, including faculty
members’ enthusiastic level
on such content.
The New Faculty Orientation Committee
will add a new session introducing the
liberal arts concept in the whole
orientation program.
Post-session survey of
participating faculty
members;
To observe during the session
the engagement level of
participating faculty.
Increase faculty’s
confidence level
in developing
students 21st
century skills
Design a comprehensive student
evaluation tool and implement the
evaluation on a yearly basis. Every four
years, conduct a thorough review of
students’ progress and review if certain
evaluation criteria need to be updated.
Interviews with faculty
members upon announcement
of this new evaluation plan to
collect their feedback of such
strategy
Organizational
setting change to
establish faculty
mentoring
program
To establish mentorship between senior
faculty members and junior faculty
members so that the former can provide
guidance to the later to help them achieve
scholarly independence, further develop
educational skills and build professional
networks.
Informal satisfaction survey
of junior faculty members to
collect their feedback of this
change;
Conversation or informal
interview of junior faculty
members to know what they
think of the change.

Level Two: Learning
Learning has to be accomplished in order to achieve behavior changes (Kirkpatrick &
Kirkpatrick, 2006). The second of the four-level model calls for the measurement of learning
outcomes after the interventions; in this case, faculty participants will have to learn the factual
knowledge about liberal arts education before this concept is embedded in their daily teaching
strategies and achieve the behavior changes. For the added session on introducing the liberal arts

82
concept during the orientation program, a pre and post information sharing session can be
conducted to examine if the session has served its purpose or if the training has been effective.
At the beginning of the session, faculty participants can be asked to share their view on liberal
arts education and what they know about it. At the end of the session, participants can be asked
to do the same again. By comparing the content that they share, it will be easy to identify if and
what they have learned through the session. For the faculty mentoring program, informal
interviews can be conducted to see if junior faculty members experience an increase in their
knowledge and skills. Detailed plans of Level Two measurement related to each
recommendation are detailed in Table 15.
Table 15
Intervention Assessment Level Two: Learning
Level Two: Learning
Recommendation
Category
Recommendation Methods of Assessment
Increase faculty’s
factual
knowledge and
build
organizational
culture
UOT leadership will identify and provide
a set of defining features associated with
the liberal arts education provided by the
university and embed the liberal arts
concept into various activities within the
community.
Conduct informal interview
after the leadership identify
the defining features
associated with liberal arts
education to see how faculty’s
view has evolved.
The New Faculty Orientation Committee
will add a new session introducing the
liberal arts concept in the whole
orientation program.
Pre and post session
information sharing from
faculty participants to see
how their understanding of
liberal arts education has
changed before and after the
training.
Increase faculty’s
confidence level
in developing
students 21st
century skills
Design a comprehensive student
evaluation tool and implement the
evaluation on a yearly basis. Every four
years, conduct a thorough review of
students’ progress and review if certain
evaluation criteria need to be updated or
not.
N/A

83
Table 15, continued
Level Two: Learning
Recommendation
Category
Recommendation Methods of Assessment
Organizational
setting change to
establish faculty
mentoring
program
To establish mentorship between senior
faculty members and junior faculty
members so that the former can provide
guidance to the later to help them achieve
scholarly independence, further develop
educational skills and build professional
networks.
Informal interviews to see if
junior faculty members report
increase in their teaching
skills and professional
scholarship.

Level Three: Behavior
Upon completion of the first two levels of evaluation, the next level is to evaluate
whether the new knowledge or new policy is acted upon. For the new session that is intended to
increase new faculty’s factual knowledge on liberal arts education, one way to find out whether
there is behavior change is to observe their syllabus and their classes to see if their understanding
of liberal arts concept is reflected in increased class activities intended to develop students’ 21st
century skills. For the comprehensive student evaluation tool, the level of student participation in
various activities both in and outside of classrooms will be a good indicator of behavior change.
The grading scheme may also be updated to reflect more weighting in participation in class
activities and decreased weighting of tests or quizzes on knowledge mastering.
For the last recommendation of faculty mentoring program, interviews can be conducted
among junior faculty members to understand if they experience improved work efficiency, if
they have an enhanced productivity in their publications or higher satisfactory with their teaching
outcome. All these are potential indicators of the effectiveness of the mentoring program.
Detailed plans of Level Three measurement related to each recommendation are detailed in
Table 16.

84
Table 16
Intervention Assessment Level Three: Behavior
Level Three: Behavior
Recommendation
Category
Recommendation Methods of Assessment
Increase faculty’s
factual
knowledge and
build
organizational
culture
UOT leadership will identify and provide
a set of defining features associated with
the liberal arts education provided by the
university and embed the liberal arts
concept into various activities within the
community.
Syllabus analysis to compare
updates/changes in syllabus
content, to examine if there
are increased class activities
intended to develop students’
21st century skills;

The New Faculty Orientation Committee
will add a new session introducing the
liberal arts concept in the whole
orientation program.
Increase faculty’s
confidence level
in developing
students 21st
century skills
Design a comprehensive student
evaluation tool and implement the
evaluation on a yearly basis. Every four
years, conduct a thorough review of
students’ progress and review if certain
evaluation criteria need to be updated or
not.
Class observations to see if
there is more student
participation in class
activities;
Faculty syllabus analysis to
see if there is potential
changes in grading structure.
Organizational
setting change to
establish faculty
mentoring
program
To establish mentorship between senior
faculty members and junior faculty
members so that the former can provide
guidance to the later to help them achieve
scholarly independence, further develop
educational skills and build professional
networks.
Interviews to ask junior
faculty member’s confidence
level in work;
Productivity of professional
outcomes, such as
publications, grants and etc.

Level Four: Impact
This level of evaluation is the examination of the final result to see if the expected goal
has been achieved through the design and implementation of policy interventions. This
evaluation should take place when all the recommended interventions have been completed. The
direct way to see if these recommendations generate the intended impact is to examine whether those
validated gaps still exist. For the knowledge gap existed in certain faculty members, surveys can be
conducted to see if they are confident in their understanding of a liberal arts education and how it differs

85
from other professional programs. Students can also be surveyed every two or three years for this purpose
since the recommendation is a campus wide effort intended for all community members. Same for
faculty’s self-efficacy level, surveys can be done to see if they observe change in students’ attitude
towards participation in various activities designed to improve their 21st century skills. For the last
intervention, surveys can be done to see if junior faculty members have a better work-life balance and in
the long term, faculty retention rate can be a good indicator of the impact of this policy. Detailed plans
of Level Four measurement related to each recommended recommendation are detailed in Table
17.
Table 17
Intervention Assessment Level Four: Impact
Level Four: Impact
Recommendation
Category
Recommendation Methods of Assessment
Increase faculty’s
factual
knowledge and
build
organizational
culture
UOT leadership will identify and provide
a set of defining features associated with
the liberal arts education provided by the
university and embed the liberal arts
concept into various activities within the
community.
Surveys of both faculty and
students to see if they are
confident about their
understanding of liberal arts
education, and the difference
from professional programs;
The New Faculty Orientation Committee
will add a new session introducing the
liberal arts concept in the whole
orientation program.
Increase faculty’s
confidence level
in developing
students 21st
century skills
Design a comprehensive student
evaluation tool and implement the
evaluation on a yearly basis. Every four
years, conduct a thorough review of
students’ progress and review if certain
evaluation criteria need to be updated or
not.
Faculty are more confident in
their ability in developing
students’ 21st century skills
Organizational
setting change to
establish faculty
mentoring
program
To establish mentorship between senior
faculty members and junior faculty
members so that the former can provide
guidance to the later to help them achieve
scholarly independence, further develop
educational skills and build professional
networks.
Faculty have a more
productive work life, higher
level of work satisfaction;
Long-term faculty retention
rate;

86
Limitations and Future Research
As China furthers its efforts in curriculum reform in order to develop wholistic students,
more studies are carried out to examine the results of curriculum reform. There are many similar
studies in examining the liberal arts effort in public universities like Fudan University and
Shanghai Jiaotong University. However, there are very limited studies that examine the liberal
arts effort in a JV university. One main reason is that JV universities are still new in China and
they are small in terms of student enrollments compared to large public universities in China.
When considering the transferrable practices to other universities, it will be important to bear in
mind that JV universities are different in many ways in terms of its internal structure compared
to public universities. In addition, the language of instruction at UOT is in English and the
students admitted into the university has gone through a self-selective process when they decide
to pursue a liberal arts education. A different student body group and faculty group may
constitute a different dynamic in the process of implementing a liberal arts curriculum.
In addition, when the organizational influences are examined in this study, the focus is
mainly on internal influences such as organizational culture and organizational policies.
However, it is equally important to study the external influences such as a market trend and
regulating policies, especially given the current trend of utilitarianism and materialism in the
higher educational system and the Chinese society at large. It is worth understanding how this
trend and culture in the society may influence the implementation of a liberal arts curriculum and
how that will affect the development of students’ 21st century skills.
Last but not least, the stakeholder group in this study is the faculty group at UOT. They
are the most important members in implementing a liberal arts curriculum. However, there are
other key players, such as student affairs team, academic advising office and etc. in the
university who are also important contributors of a liberal arts experience. Among the research

87
participants, only two of them came from China. The perspectives from Chinese faculty
members may not be fully studied in this paper. These can also be areas of study for future
researches.
Conclusion
This study focused on a JV university in China and adopted gap analysis to examine how
the knowledge, motivation, and organization factors affect faculty members in the university to
achieve their goal of developing students’ 21st century skills. Faculty members who joined this
study were interviewed and documents collected from the university were analyzed to validate
the assumed influences in the three areas of knowledge, motivation and organization. Interview
data and documents analysis validated four of the nine assumed influences. One emergent
influence was also identified. These gaps were further categorized into three groups, based on
which recommendations were proposed for each group. An implementation plan for the
proposed recommendations, together with a process to evaluate at four levels, were also
proposed.
The previous studies on liberal arts education in China have mainly focused on traditional
public universities. Those studies revealed a different set of challenges faced by those
universities. However, this study focused on a new setting of JV universities in China. These
universities always enjoy more academic freedom, more resources from local government and
have a lower student faculty ratio. Smaller classes also contribute to a better liberal arts
experience. However, as revealed through this study, there are other barriers in place affecting
faculty’s ability to develop students’ 21st century skills through the liberal arts curriculum.
A lack of liberal arts culture within the organization is one area that the university can
improve. To build a culture where students are encouraged to have free discussions, to explore
their interested subjects freely, participate in various campus activities, to exchange ideas and

88
work in groups with students from diverse backgrounds. All these are part of the liberal arts
experience which should be valued by students and the community as a whole.
While students are encouraged to engage in activities designed to develop their 21st
century skills both inside and outside of the classroom, a corresponding skill evaluation tool
should be put in place to make sure students can feel their progress and also to inform faculty
and other offices on the effectiveness of their teaching and the activities they have designed.
As commonly seen in other universities, junior faculty members are facing similar
struggles in keeping up with multiple obligations. Junior faculty are feeling the pressure to
balance their work and life. Their class prep time is squeezed as a result. To support junior
faculty members during the early stages of their career and help them better focus on developing
students’ 21st century skills in the curriculum is another issue to be addressed.
Again, many former studies have identified various challenges experienced by other
universities in pursuing a liberal arts curriculum. In a joint venture setting, different challenges
exist. However, the goal remains the same across all the universities when they decide to pursue
a liberal arts education, which is either to cultivate holistic or well-rounded students as put by
traditional public universities or as more specifically articulated in this study, to develop students
21st century skills. Both previous studies and current studies indicate that to achieve this goal of
developing students 21st skills through liberal arts education, more efforts need to be invested to
build an organizational culture that embeds the liberal arts concept and to establish supporting
policies to allow faculty to be fully devoted to their teaching of a liberal arts curriculum.

89
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APPENDIX A
RECRUITMENT EMAIL
Dear Dr. XXX,
Thank you in advance for your attention to this email. I am a doctoral student at Rossier
School of Education, University of Southern California. I am conducting a dissertation research
on the liberal arts education at the University of Thompson (UOT).
I would like to interview you at your convenience to address the following questions:
• Your teaching experience of the liberal arts curriculum at UOT;
• Your motivations to implement the liberal arts education course;
• Your reflections about the liberal arts education in UOT.
If you would like to share your experience with me, please email me so that we can
schedule a time for the interview.
Thank you very much for your help.
Sincerely
Lingling Wang
Ed. D. Candidate
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
Email: lingling.wang@usc.edu

102
APPENDIX B
INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

Respondent: _______________________________________________
Country of Citizenship: ___________________
Curriculum Taught in Previous University:_____________________________
Course Taught in UOT:_______________________________________
Location of Interview: ____________________________________________________
Interview Start Time: _________________________________________
Introduction
Thank you very much for taking time to join me for this interview today. I am conducting this
study as part of my dissertation research with my doctoral program at USC, exploring how well
the liberal arts curriculum is implemented at UOT and what kind of advantages does UOT, as a
joint venture university enjoys in implementing such a liberal arts curriculum. I anticipate taking
no more than 30 minutes of your time. Your participation is completely voluntary. We can skip
any question you want at any time, and you may stop the interview at any time. Any identifiable
information obtained in connection with this study will remain confidential. I would like to
record our conversation if you are comfortable with it. After the recordings are transcribed, they
will be destroyed. Do you have any questions?
Before we start, can you please tell me a little bit about your previous teaching experience
related to liberal arts curriculum, if any?

• How do you see student skills being developed in a liberal arts curriculum? What key
skills are being developed?

103
• When you design your teaching plan for a course in this liberal arts curriculum, how do
you approach it? Probe: Can you give me a specific example of how you have
implemented one of these teaching plans?
• Tell me about the last time you reflected on the effectiveness of the strategies that you
used to integrate the development of the above-mentioned skills in your teaching plan, if
at all. After that reflection, what adjustments, if any, did you make to the curriculum?
• What are some outcomes that you would hope to achieve by implementing a liberal arts
education?
• To what degree do you feel confident about developing students’ 21st century skills
through the liberal arts curriculum?
• How do you think the teaching strategies are received by your students?
• How does university and government policy, positively or negatively, influence the
implementation of the liberal arts curriculum at UOT?
• How often do you collaborate with other offices, if at all?
• What does the university expect of you other than teaching?
• What are the challenges that you encounter while teaching or implementing liberal arts
courses, if any?
• How do you feel the liberal arts education at UOT is different from those you have taught
in other universities?
• Is there anything you would like to share with me or do you have any comments?

104
APPENDIX C
INFORMED CONSENT FORM
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California, 3470 Trousdale Parkway, Waite Phillips Hall 1003C

INFORMATION/FACTS SHEET FOR EXEMPT NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY LABOR MARKET
THROUGH LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION AT A CHINESE JOINT VENTURE
UNIVERSITY

You are invited to participate in a research study. Research studies include only people who
voluntarily choose to take part. This document explains information about this study. You should
ask questions about anything that is unclear to you.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This research study aims to understand how factors related to Knowledge, Motivation of the
faculty group as well as Organizational factors influence the development of students’ 21st
century skills in the liberal arts curriculum.

PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to participate in a 30- 50 minute audio-
taped interview. You do not have to answer any questions you don’t want to; if you don’t want to
be taped, you cannot participate in this study.

PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
You will not be compensated for your participation; however you will be given a small gift as a
sign of appreciation.

CONFIDENTIALITY
The audio recordings of the interview will be deleted after transcription. The transcripts will be
kept as an encrypted file on the researcher’s computer until shortly after the dissertation defense
took place. Should you indicate that some part of the interview is confidential, if possible that
part will be used for the study in a way that does not make you identifiable as the source. If that’s
not possible, that part will not be used for the study.

The members of the research team and the University of Southern California’s Human Subjects
Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews and monitors research
studies to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.

When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no identifiable
information will be used.

105

INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
Principal Investigator Lingling Wang via email at lingling@usc.edu or phone at (86) 18662678289
or faculty advisor Dr. Tracy Tambascia at tpoon@rossier.usc.edu or phone 213-740-9747.

IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
University of Southern California Institutional Review Board, 1640 Marengo Street, Suite 700,
Los Angeles, CA 90033-9269. Phone (323) 442-0114 or email irb@usc.edu.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract As Chinese college students enter the labor market, employers are seeking graduates with the right skills needed in the workplace. However, there may be a mismatch in skills between graduates and what is needed in China’s labor market. As the country accelerated its efforts in industrial upgrading, employers need students to be equipped with 21st century skills. New joint venture universities in China are focused on liberal arts education in hope of cultivating well-rounded students with the necessary skills for a more globalized society. ❧ This case study examined the effectiveness of a university’s effort in developing students’ 21st century skills through its liberal arts curriculum. Interviews and document analysis were conducted to analyze the perceived knowledge, motivation and organizational impacts that may influence its faculty members’ ability to develop these skills through their teaching. The study revealed gaps in some faculty’s understanding of liberal arts education, and the student focus on earning higher grades meant that faculty efficacy in meeting other curriculum goals was lower than expected. Junior faculty also lacked time for course preparation, thus affecting the design and implementation of course strategies. ❧ Recommendations for practice include a university wide effort to integrate liberal arts concept into the university culture, the implementation of a comprehensive student assessment tool and a faculty mentoring program. An implementation and evaluation plan was also recommended at the end of the study.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Wang, Lingling (author)

Core Title Preparing students for the 21st century labor market through liberal arts education at a Chinese joint venture university

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Global Executive

Publication Date 07/21/2020

Defense Date 07/20/2020

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag 21st century skills,China,joint venture university,labor market,liberal arts education,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Tambascia, Tracy (committee chair), Krop, Cathy (committee member), Picus, Lawrence (committee member)

Creator Email lingling.wang@dukekunshan.edu.cn,lingling@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-336153

Unique identifier UC11663385

Identifier etd-WangLingli-8718.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-336153 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-WangLingli-8718.pdf

Dmrecord 336153

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Wang, Lingling

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA