The Impact of Engagement on Academic Achievement of Undergraduate Students in Indonesian Higher Education
Taufik Mulyadin
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia/
the Ohio State University
Abstract
The present study sought to investigate what affected Indonesian undergraduate students- academic achievement from the perspective of student engagement. In postsecondary education context, student engagement is defined as the quality of time and effort devoted by a student to educationally purposeful activities inside and outside the class. The study participants were 208 first-year and senior undergraduate students enrolled at three Indonesian postsecondary education institutions (a public university, a private university, and a public polytechnic). To measure student engagement, this study utilized the data from the Indonesian Survey of Student Learning Activities (ISSLA). This survey was comprised of items referring to five engagement benchmarks including academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, student-faculty interaction, enriching educational experiences, and supportive campus environment. The gathered data were quantitatively analyzed in two phases utilizing hierarchical multiple regression analysis. The first phase examined impact of student engagement on undergraduate students- academic achievement after controlling their background characteristics- effect. Meanwhile, the second phase of analysis focused on the examination of conditional or interaction effects. The study revealed that student engagement with its five benchmarks was the stronger predictor for Indonesian undergraduate students- academic achievement. The results indicated certain benchmarks of engagement had greater significant impact on achievement including level of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, and supportive campus environment. The study also found the interaction effects were insignificant and therefore it indicated that engagement was beneficial for academic success of undergraduate students from any background characteristics, both advantaged and disadvantaged backgrounds.
Keywords: student engagement; undergraduates; academic achievement
Topic: International Symposium on Social Sciences, Humanities, Education, and Religious Studies