Student engagement in the Caribbean region: Exploring its role in the motivation and achievement of Jamaican middle school students

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamica G. Martin ◽  
Andrew J. Martin ◽  
Paul Evans

Using an expectancy-value framework, the present investigation is the first to explore the generality of this theorizing and research in the emerging regional context of the Caribbean. Given high underachievement in the Caribbean region, we addressed the need to better understand the role of engagement in students’ academic motivation and achievement. A total of 585 year 6 to 9 students from five Jamaican schools responded to a survey assessing their motivation milieu (academic expectations and values held by their parents, teachers, and peers), their self-motivation (expectancies and values), behavioral engagement (class participation, homework completion, school absenteeism), and their academic achievement (in mathematics, language arts, and science). Structural equation modeling showed that (a) students’ own motivation was influenced by their motivation milieu, and (b) students’ behavioral engagement significantly mediated the relationship between their motivation and their academic achievement. Findings confirm the generality of behavioral engagement effects among students in the developing Caribbean region and represent a novel contribution to the study of developing and emerging educational contexts more broadly.

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weihua Fan ◽  
Allison G. Dempsey

This study examined the mediating role of student school motivation in linking student victimization experiences and academic achievement among a nationally representative sample of students in 10th grade. Structural equation modeling supported that there were significant associations between student victimization and academic achievement for high school students. Give these significant associations, identification of the cognitive mechanisms that underlie these relationships is critical to understanding the plight of repeated victims. Our results indicated that students who reported frequent peer victimization also reported reduced school motivation (self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation), resulting in lower achievement in both reading and math. These pathways existed after accounting for differences in achievement that may be due to socioeconomic status and gender.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 534-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex J. Ruiz-Torres ◽  
Guillermo Cardoza ◽  
Markku Kuula ◽  
Yuritza Oliver ◽  
Henry Rosa-Polanco

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the relationships between the capabilities and performance characteristics of logistic service providers (LSPs) in the Caribbean region. The study considers the organization’s process improvement (PI) performance as it relates to their innovation capabilities, their efforts into information sharing and collaboration with customers, their planning for contingencies and considering the uncertainty of their customer’s technology. Design/methodology/approach A survey was applied to 88 LSP firms with operations in the Caribbean region. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the hypothesized relationships. Findings The results indicate that the PI performance of LSPs is significantly related to their innovation capabilities, and that these capabilities are positively related to collaboration and exchange of relevant information. Furthermore, they indicate that information sharing between LSPs and their customers significantly improves the quality of contingency planning. However, the study showed that innovation capabilities are not directly related to the LSPs’ focus on contingency planning and that customers’ technology uncertainty does not have a significant effect on the LSPs’ innovation capabilities. Research limitations/implications The sample of LSP firms is limited to three countries of the Caribbean region. Further examination of the model in additional countries and across multiple industrial contexts would increase the validity of the findings and expand to settings such as manufacturing and services. Originality/value This study measures operational performance of LSPs from a different perspective: its PI performance, and considers how multiple factors affect this performance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2531
Author(s):  
Cristina Méndez-Aguado ◽  
José M. Aguilar-Parra ◽  
Joaquín F. Álvarez ◽  
Rubén Trigueros ◽  
José A. Fernández-Archilla

Schools have traditionally focused on the cognitive development of students without paying attention to how emotions modulate the students’ psychological state and how this affects their academic performance. For that, the aim of this study is to determine the influence of emotions on the motivation of primary school students to learn French as a foreign language, and their influence on the adoption of adaptive habits and academic performance. For this purpose, the sample of participants consisted of 394 students who ranged in age from 10 to 13 years who answered three questionnaires on the study variables. Several statistical analyses were carried out that helped explain the causal relationships between the study variables and a predictive model hypothesized through structural equation modeling was created. The results revealed that positive emotion positively influenced academic motivation. At the same time, academic motivation was positively related to leisure habits related to French, and this was positively related to academic performance. In light of these results, the importance of attending to emotions in a foreign language class is highlighted, as well as the academic motivation of the students as it leads to adaptive behaviors and habits related to the learning of French.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 1012-1019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hairul A. Hashim ◽  
Golok Freddy ◽  
Ali Rosmatunisah

Background:The current study was undertaken to examine the associations between self-determination, exercise habit, anxiety, depression, stress, and academic achievement among adolescents aged 13 and 14 years in eastern Malaysia.Methods:The sample consisted of 750 secondary school students (mean age = 13.4 years, SD = 0.49). Participants completed self-report measures of exercise behavioral regulation, negative affect, and exercise habit strength. Midyear exam results were used as an indicator of academic performance. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.Results:The results of structural equation modeling revealed a close model fit for the hypothesized model, which indicates that higher levels of self-determination were positively associated with habituated exercise behavior. In turn, exercise habit strength fostered academic achievement and buffered the debilitative effect of stress, depression, and anxiety on student academic performance. The analysis of model invariance revealed a nonsignificant difference between male and female subjects.Conclusion:The findings support the notion that habituated exercise fosters academic performance. In addition, we found that habituated exercise buffers the combined effects of stress, anxiety and depression on academic performance. The finding also supports the roles of self-determination in promoting exercise habituation.


SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824402110591
Author(s):  
Yajun Wu ◽  
Xia Kang

Based on the Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT), this study examined the interactive relation between expectancy of success and attainment value, and how they predicate students’ Foreign Language (FL) performance via behavioral engagement. Self-report data were collected from 522 Chinese non-English majors aged 18 to 22 years in their sophomore year. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that expectancy of success and attainment value interacted in predicting Chinese sophomores’ FL performance. The expectancy of success had both direct and indirect effects on FL performance when investigating the mediating role of behavioral engagement. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huei-Ju Shih

Factors that contribute to learning achievement have always been a primary research concern in the field of education. In the field of second/foreign language (L2) learning, researchers have been trying to explore many important factors that are linked to successful learning and how these factors may predict the success of language learning. With respect to the factors contributing to language proficiency, many researchers endeavor themselves to the exploration of assisting the learners. The present study aims to explore whether or not the following factors would influence learners’ academic achievement: the process of goal-setting, the L2 anxiety, the effort the learners put into, self-efficacy together with self-regulatory strategies. A total number of 356 senior high school students who were learning English as a Foreign Language participated in the study. A new questionnaire was developed to measure and collect the participants’ responses in respect to the above-mentioned learning factors. In order to investigate the relationships among these factors and the learners’ academic performance, the structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to identify the best fit model. It was found that self-efficacy, L2 anxiety, together with goal-setting processes, are prerequisites for the application of effective self-regulatory strategies, which in turn play an important role in affecting the intended efforts the learners make, and consequently influence the learners’ achievement. According to the findings, we suggest the teacher elevate the students’ self-efficacy, lower the L2 anxiety, help set their learning goals, cultivate their capability of employing strategies and increase their intended effort.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0044118X2110309
Author(s):  
Caina Li ◽  
Yining Song ◽  
Qi Wang ◽  
Bin Zhang

This three-wave longitudinal study aimed to investigate whether the relationship between self-control and academic achievement, through mastery goals, was conditional on the nature of the teacher-student relationships. A total of 852 junior school students in China completed questionnaires about self-control, mastery goals, and teacher-student relationships. Academic achievement was obtained from the school. The analyses of moderated mediation effects based on structural equation modeling showed that teacher-student emotional conflict increased the negative effect of students’ low self-control on academic achievement via mastery goals, whereas teacher-student emotional support failed to moderate this link. Thus, both mediating and moderating effects exist in the association between self-control and adolescents’ academic achievement.


2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katariina Salmela-Aro ◽  
Katja Upadaya

This study introduces the Schoolwork Engagement Inventory (EDA), which measures energy, dedication, and absorption with respect to schoolwork. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the validity and reliability of the inventory among students attending postcomprehensive schools. A total of 1,530 (769 girls, 761 boys) students from 13 institutions (six upper-secondary and seven vocational schools) completed the EDA 1 year apart. The results showed that a one-factor solution had the most reliability and fitted best among the younger students, whereas a three-factor solution was most reliable and fit best among the older students. In terms of concurrent validity, depressive symptoms and school burnout were inversely related, and self-esteem and academic achievement were positively associated with EDA. Boys and upper-secondary-school students experienced lower levels of schoolwork engagement than girls and vocational-school students.


2021 ◽  
pp. 014303432098520
Author(s):  
Ma. Jenina N. Nalipay ◽  
Yuyang Cai ◽  
Ronnel B. King

The purpose of the present study was to examine whether parents’ utility value perceptions predicted their children’s utility value perceptions, demonstrating social contagion effects. We also examined whether utility value would predict achievement. This is a cross-sectional study that utilized data from a subsample of adolescent students from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA 2015), which focused on science learning and achievement from 18 regions. We performed multi-level structural equation modeling to analyze the data. Results revealed that parents’ utility value perceptions predicted students’ utility value perceptions, which, in turn, predicted science achievement. The findings of this study provide evidence of the social contagion of utility value perceptions from parents to their children and the critical role of utility value in predicting achievement across various regions/countries. Our study highlights the crucial role parents play in adolescents’ motivational and learning outcomes and suggest parental involvement in programs toward enhancing adolescents’ motivation and achievement.


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