Social Support and a Sense of Purpose: The Role of Personal Growth Initiative and Academic Self-Efficacy

Objective: Studies have consistently found a positive relationship between social support and a sense of purpose; however, less is known about the underlying mechanisms of this relationship. The present study bridges this gap by proposing and testing a path model illustrating the mediating effects of personal growth initiative and academic self-efficacy on the linkage between social support and a sense of purpose.Method: A total of 2,085 Chinese college students completed the revised versions of the Social Support, Personal Growth Initiative, Academic Self-Efficacy, and Sense of Purpose Scales.Results: The results show that social support, personal growth initiative, and academic self-efficacy were all significantly associated with a sense of purpose. As predicted, personal growth initiative and academic self-efficacy mediated the relationship between social support and a sense of purpose, respectively. The results also support the hypothesized serial mediating effect.Conclusion: Individuals who feel more social support have a higher level of personal growth initiative, their academic self-efficacy is stronger, and their academic self-efficacy further enhances their sense of purpose. Additionally, comparisons among the three indirect effects indicated that the effect of personal growth initiative was significantly greater than those of the other two measures. Thus, it can be concluded that personal initiative plays a greater role in enhancing a sense of purpose. These findings not only help to understand how social support enhances the sense of purpose, but also provide insight into the underlying mechanism.

Self-Efficacy Beliefs of University Students: Examining Factor Validity and Measurement Invariance of the New Academic Self-Efficacy Scale

Academic self-efficacy beliefs influence students’ academic and career choices, as well as motivational factors and learning strategies promoting effective academic success. Nevertheless, few studies have focused on the academic self-efficacy of university students in comparison to students at other levels. Furthermore, extant measures present several limitations. The first aim of this study was to develop a reliable and valid scale assessing university students’ self-efficacy beliefs in managing academic tasks. The second aim was to investigate differences in academic self-efficacy due to gender, years of enrollment, and student status. The study involved 831 students (age M = 21.09 years; SD = 1.34 years; 66.3% women) enrolled in undergraduate programs. Indicators of academic experiences and performance (i.e., number of exams passed and average exam rating) were collected. A new scale measuring students’ academic self-efficacy beliefs was administered. Results from a preliminary Exploratory Factor Analysis were consistently supported by findings from a Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Multigroup CFA supported the presence of measurement invariance. Analyses revealed that the new scale has eight factors: “Planning Academic Activities,” “Learning Strategies,” “Information Retrieval,” “Working in Groups,” “Management of Relationships with Teachers,” “Managing Lessons,” “Stress Management,” and “Thesis Work.” Self-efficacy dimensions showed significant relations with academic experiences and students’ performance indicators, as well as differences due to gender, years of enrollment, and student status. Findings are discussed in terms of practical implications for the implementation of intervention programs aimed at fostering self-efficacy beliefs and academic success.

Investigating Students’ Adoption of MOOCs during COVID-19 Pandemic: Students’ Academic Self-Efficacy, Learning Engagement, and Learning Persistence

Students’ learning environments are significantly influenced by massive open online courses (MOOCs). To better understand how students could implement learning technology for educational purposes, this study creates a structural equation model and tests confirmatory factor analysis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a model through investigating observability (OB), complexity (CO), trialability (TR), and perceived usefulness (PU) with perceived ease-of-use (PEU) of MOOCs adoption by university students to measure their academic self-efficacy (ASE), learning engagement (LE), and learning persistence (LP). As a result, the study used an expanded variant of the innovation diffusion theory (IDT) and the technology acceptance model (TAM) as the research model. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with Smart-PLS was applied to quantitative data collection and analysis of 540 university students as respondents. Student responses were grouped into nine factors and evaluated to decide the students’ ASE, LE, and LP. The findings revealed a clear correlation between OB, CO, and TR, all of which were important predictors of PU and PEU. Students’ ASE, LE, and LP were affected by PEU and PU. This study’s established model was effective in explaining students’ ASE, LE, and LP on MOOC adoption. These findings suggest implications for designing and developing effective instructional and learning strategies in MOOCs in terms of learners’ perceptions of themselves, their instructors, and learning support systems.

EFIKASI DIRI AKADEMIK DALAM MENGHADAPI TUNTUTAN PERKULIAHAN PADA MAHASISWA

ABSTRACTThe challenges of students in dealing with the teaching and learning process are quite diverse, so there are also various ways of handling these students to deal with them. How to handle challenges in the teaching and learning process requires a positive concept of academic self-efficacy. This research is qualitative research with data collection tools using observation and interviews. Observation and interview guides are made according to aspects of the target behavior, namely level, breadth, and strength. Based on the results of the study, it shows that the subject has high self-efficacy in the field of science that is currently being undertaken. This can be seen in the seriousness of the subject towards the lecture materials and the efforts of the subject in dealing with difficulties in lecture assignments. Subjects have a high level of self-confidence in carrying out assignments in lectures. For the subject, although there are many difficulties in doing these tasks, the subject has high confidence to always be able to do the given task. Keywords: Academic self-efficacy, Students ABSTRAKTantangan mahasiswa dalam menghadapi proses belajar mengajar cukup beragam sehingga beragam pula cara penanganan mahasiswa tersebut untuk menghadapinya. Cara penanganan tantangan dalam proses belajar mengajar membutuhkan konsep efikasi diri akademik yang positif. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kualitatif dengan alat pengumpulan data menggunakan observasi dan wawancara. Panduan observasi dan wawancara dibuat sesuai dengan aspek dari target perilaku yaitu level, keluasan dan kekuatan. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa subjek memiliki efikasi diri yang tinggi terhadap bidang ilmu yang dijalani saat ini. Hal tersebut nampak pada keseriusan subjek terhadap materi-materi kuliah dan upaya-upaya subjek dalam menghadapi kesulitan pada tugas-tugas kuliah. Subjek memiliki tingkat keyakinan diri yang tinggi pada pengerjaan tugas di perkuliahan. Bagi subjek walau terdapat banyak kesulitan dalam mengerjakan tugas-tugas tersebut, namun subjek memiliki keyakinan yang tinggi untuk selalu mampu mengerjakan tugas yang diberikan. Kata kunci: Efikasi diri akademik, Mahasiswa