Biggs' presage-product-process model provided a theoretical framework for modeling the observed interrelationships among gender, age, self-efficacy, proactive attitude, locus of control, academic experiences, knowledge orientation, learning approach, and self-reported academic ability in a sample of 120 Hong Kong graduate students of education (M.Ed. students). Gender and locus of control were found not to have any significant direct or indirect effects on self-reported academic ability. Self-efficacy, academic experiences, and learning approach had direct positive effects on self-reported academic ability, while the effects of age and proactive attitude on self-reported academic ability were indirect through one or more of the process variables which in turn had either direct or indirect effects on self-reported academic ability. The final path model, minus gender and locus of control, fit the data well, had good predictive power, and suggested that age, self-efficacy and proactive attitude could prove useful for identifying part-time M.Ed. students most likely to succeed in their studies.

Key words: presage-process-product model, path analysis, part-time M.Ed. students, academic ability