Motivation for choosing UrFU Master’s degree program by students from China as a manifestation of self‑regulated and continuous learning

Introduction. Currently, the leadership of the People’s Republic of China pays special attention to the issues of professional education at the master’s level. Students from the PRC studying in the Russian Federation have specific motivational learning strategies. Purpose setting. The purpose of the article is to study the specifics of the motivational strategy of learning of students – citizens of the PRC in the master’s programs of the Ural Federal University (UrFU). Methodology and methods of the study. The study of the specifics of motivation and learning strategies of UrFU master’s students from the PRC was carried out using a special scale «Motivated Learning Strategies Questionnaire of Master’s students from China – MSLQ-MC». MSLQ-MC includes five indicators (factors): «orientation to internal goals», «perceived value of learning», «self-efficacy»; «critical thinking», «learning design» has good criteria of agreement with the original data. The study involved 54 students who assessed their motivation and learning strategies on a 5-point Likert scale using the MSLQ-MC tool in English. Statistical processing of the measurement results was carried out using the SPSS 23.0 and Amos 18.0 software packages. Results. Statistical analysis of the results of measuring motivation and learning strategies of UrFU master’s students from China using the MSLQ-MC scale showed that the wording of the questions is adequate to the measurement context. The primacy of students’ internal beliefs in choosing strategies for their learning activities was revealed. Analysis of the MSLQ-MC data revealed that the choice of an educational program and a course of study have the strongest impact on the indicators of «self-efficacy», «perceived value of learning» and «orientation to internal goals», which is explained by the peculiarities of the Chinese education system. Conclusion. An original technique for measuring the motivational learning strategy of students – MSLQ-MC, which is formative in nature for successful continuation of education is  presented

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