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A Study On The Effects Of Teacher Support On College Student Engagement Based On Self-Determination Theory

Posted on:2018-09-15Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:X L ChiFull Text:PDF
GTID:1367330596997214Subject:Management Science and Engineering
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Under the rapid growth of China's higher education,how to improve the quality of higher education has become a problem urgently to be solved today.The existing research has suggested that student engagement is an important indicator of the quality of education,which has a positive effect on students' academic performance and personal development.Therefore,it is important to explore the internal mechanism and external conditions that promote student engagement.Student engagement is a changeable state that will be influenced by teacher support in the learning environment.Although the positive role of teacher support has been much studied,the mechanism of teacher support on student engagement has been less clear.To fill the gap,this study examined the relationship between teacher support and student engagement from the perspective of self-determination theory.Based on self-determination theory,the construct of teacher support was divided into three dimensions: teacher autonomy support,emotional support,and competence support.Next,how teacher support affected student engagement was examined following three steps.First of all,drew on theoretical basis and literature review,the direct effects of teacher support variables on student engagement were examined.Second,based on social cognitive theory and expectancy-value theory,the mediation effects of academic self-efficacy and perceived task values in the relationships were examined.Third,based on achievement goal theory,the moderation effects of mastery goal,performance-approach goal and performance-avoidance goal in the relationships were examined.Through data analysis of 758 valid questionnaires,the following conclusions can be drawn:(1)Teacher autonomy support,emotional support,and competence support all had significant positive effects on student engagement.That is to say all three types of teacher support are beneficial social resources in the learning environment.(2)Both academic self-efficacy and perceived task values played a significant mediating role in the relationship between teacher support and student engagement.In particular,academic self-efficacy significantly mediated the relations between teacher autonomy support,emotional support,and competence support and student engagement.Perceived task values significantly mediated the relations between teacher autonomy support,competence support and student engagement.However,perceived task values had no significant mediation effect in the relationship between teacher emotional support and student engagement.(3)Mastery goal,performance-approach goal and performance-avoidance goal had differential moderation effects in the relationship between teacher support and student engagement.First,the main effect of mastery goal on student engagement was significantly positive.And it had negative moderation effect in the relationship between teacher emotional support and student engagement,that is,mastery goal can substitute the positive effect of teacher emotional support on student engagement.Second,the main effect of performance-approach goal on student engagement was not significant.Performance-approach goal had negative moderation effect in the relationship between teacher competence support and student engagement,that is,performance-approach goal can substitute the positive effect of teacher competence support on student engagement.Besides,performance-approach goal had positive moderation effect in the relationship between teacher emotional support and student engagement,that is,performance-approach goal can intensify the positive effect of teacher emotional support on student engagement.Although contrary to the hypothesis,this result is of particular interest.Third,the main effect of performance-avoidance goal on student engagement was significantly negative.Performance-avoidance goal had significant moderation effects in the relations between teacher autonomy support,emotional support and student engagement,that is,performance-avoidance goal can impair the positive effects of teacher autonomy support and emotional support on student engagement.The results of this study systematically revealed the influence of teacher support on college student engagement.Our results can provide theoretical support and practical guidance for the formulation of effective educational policy improving student engagement.
Keywords/Search Tags:Teacher support, Student engagement, Academic self-efficacy, Perceived task values, Achievement goals
PDF Full Text Request
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