Academic Engagement Related to Goal-Orientation among University Students

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between academic engagement and goal-orientation among university students, as well as to identify the level of academic engagement, and to verify whether there are statistically significant differences in the level of academic engagement due to variables of gender, academic specialization and academic level. The study sample consisted of (735) students at the Hashemite University, chosen by the available sampling method. To achieve the goals of the study, academic engagement and goal orientation scales were used. The results of the study showed that the level of academic engagement was moderate. The cognitive engagement ranked first, followed by emotional engagement, and behavioral engagement ranked last. The results also showed that there were statistically significant differences in the level of behavioral and cognitive engagement attributed to gender, in favor of female students, and there were statistically significant differences in the level of behavioral, emotional and cognitive engagement attributed to academic level. This means that the average of first year students was higher than the average of second, third and senior university students. The results of the study also showed a positive correlation between mastery goals and behavioral, emotional and cognitive engagement, but a negative correlation between the goals of avoiding performance, and those of avoiding work, as well as behavioral, emotional and cognitive engagement