Influence of Psychological Capital on the Adoption of Student-Centered Teaching among University Lecturers: the Mediating Effects of Emotions in Teaching and Moderating Effect of Type of Discipline in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Chew, Zariv Long Kwan (2025) Influence of Psychological Capital on the Adoption of Student-Centered Teaching among University Lecturers: the Mediating Effects of Emotions in Teaching and Moderating Effect of Type of Discipline in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Doctoral thesis, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.

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Abstract

University lecturers have a favourable attitude towards student-centered teaching, but they have yet to fully adopt it in the classroom. Amid escalating calls for educational reform, this study examined how university lecturers can further adopt student-centered teaching practices. Hence, the main objectives of this study were to (1) investigate whether psychological capital can predict lecturers’ adoption of student-centered teaching, (2) investigate whether the emotions in teaching mediate the relationship between the psychological capital and lecturers’ adoption of student-centered teaching, (3) determine whether the type of discipline moderates the relationship between psychological capital and student-centered teaching mediated by positive and negative emotions, (4) understand the enablers for lecturers adopting student-centered teaching, and (5) understand the constraints for lecturers adopting student-centered teaching. The findings were based on data collected from 291 lecturers from private and public universities in Malaysia. The instruments used in this study were (1) Approaches to Teaching Inventory, (2) Psychological Capital Questionnaire, (3) Emotions in Teaching Inventory, and (4) Interview protocol. The content validity, construct validity, and internal consistency reliability of the questionnaire were ascertained prior to the actual data collection. Results revealed that psychological capital is a significant predictor of the adoption of student-centered teaching among lecturers. Furthermore, positive and negative emotions in teaching significantly mediate the relationship between psychological capital and the adoption of student-centered teaching. However, the type of discipline does not significantly moderate the model of psychological capital and the adoption of student-centered teaching mediated by positive and negative emotions. As for the qualitative part, a total of five themes were reported for the enablers of the adoption of student-centered teaching (i.e., training, technologies, policy changes, collaboration, and beliefs). On the other hand, a total of six themes were reported for the constraints of the adoption of student-centered teaching (i.e., student readiness, time, lecturer preference, lack of training, education culture, and class size). Results from this study can be used as a reference point to identify and subsequently rectify lecturers’ adoption of student-centered teaching. Future studies should focus on expanding this study with a larger representative pool of respondents to minimise threats to external validity and boost the generalisability of the results.