Cultivating Public Consciousness of University Students
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Abstract
Public consciousness is a valuable concept, useful for youth development. It is a key component of good citizenship. The purposes of the study are to investigate the characteristics and the public consciousness cultivating process of university students and to propose a data-driven theory of major factors in public consciousness cultivation. The study was designed as a case-based qualitative research with the Grounded Theory for data analysis. The data was collected using the semi-structured interviews of 9 students and 3 administrators and lecturers at a private university in Prathumthani, screened with purposive selection focusing on network or snowball technique. Data collection ended when the data reached theoretical saturation. Data were analyzed by using translation and interpretation. Then, the concepts were created based on theoretical sensitivity. The findings showed that cultivating public consciousness of university students consisted of six factors: meaning making and significance of public consciousness, format of the activities, the initial attraction of public consciousness, the learning outcomes, the spiritual values obtained, and supporting factors and obstacles against public consciousness cultivation. The administrators and lecturers’ views on public conscious cultivation consisted of three main factors: meaning making and significance of public consciousness, the cultivated essence, and supporting factors and obstacles against public consciousness cultivation. When the analyzed themes from the interviewed students and those of administrators and lecturers were matched, four significant factors were identified: the self, the process of public consciousness cultivation, supporting factors and obstacles against public consciousness cultivation, and the spiritual values obtained, which is the most important element for sustainability of public consciousness in students. Suggestions of this study are that the university should have a clear policy in developing student learning and public consciousness in the courses offered. Learning outside class to learn from experiences in real situations as well as cultivating public consciousness through information technology with digital gadgets and social media applications that can be done anytime and anywhere should be promoted.
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