Underlying Causes of Student Academic Engagement in High Schools of South Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

Student Engagement (SE) refers to the extent to which students are attached, interested, involved, and committed to their academic activities at the high school level. This concept encompassed a four-dimensional spiral model i.e. behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and agentic. Keeping this spiral model in consideration, we designed a Cross-Sectional Survey Research Design (CSSRD) to find out the underlying causes of SE in registered high schools of South Punjab, Pakistan. A sample size of n₁=2758 students was selected from n₂=347 registered high schools through a multistage sampling technique. A questionnaire was used to investigate the viewpoints of the participants through the survey method. The responses of the students were analyzed through SPSS Version-21 by using simple linear and hierarchical linear regression analysis. Empirical findings showed that school belonging and valuing of school education altered SE by 90.4%. Moreover, the classroom's learning environment and cognitive engagement factors changed SE by 59.5% and 52.8%, respectively. In conclusion, the components of belongingness, valuing of school education, mental excellency, cognitive abilities for learning, and classroom environment were the major determinants of SE in the study context. Ensuring the positive role of parents, peer groups, and teachers accompanied by pertinent goal-setting behavior and classroom environment can enhance SE. Moreover, emotional integration, behavioral acquiescence, and cognitive restructuring can also upsurge SE in the present research milieu