Mediating effect of student engagement on social network sites and academic performance of medical students

Abstract

Purpose In the recent times social media is considered as the most popular tool of communication among the students in India. Based on the assumption that the usage of social media is going to reinforce the academic performance among the medical students, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating effect of student engagement on the use of SM and AP of medical students of India. Design/methodology/approach The students were selected from the top three public-funded medical colleges of India. Almost 250 medical students took part in the survey. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used for the collection of the data. Structural equation modelling was used for the analysis of the final data. Findings The results of the study show that student engagement is a multi-dimensional construct. It was found that the behavioural and emotional engagement did not mediate the relationship between usage of social media and academic performance, whereas, the cognitive engagement did mediate the relationship. The outcome of the study depicts that the usage of the social media has a potential impact on the learning environment and enhances the cognitive engagement among the medical students and eventually their academic performance. Research limitations/implications This paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge on the effectiveness of social media in higher education learning among medical students. Furthermore, the study also looks at the mediating effect of Student engagement between usage of social media and academic performance. This will be helpful for the educator to know how social media can be useful for conducive learning. Originality/value The usage of the social media is claimed to enhance learning among the students but there is hardly any empirical evidence of the same. Therefore, the present paper looks at the combined effect of two distinct sets of literature, i.e., the influence of usage of social media on student engagement, and student engagement and academic performance. Linking the two studies the present paper looks at the usage of the social media, student engagement and academic performance among the medical students of India.

Student engagement in undergraduate medical education: A scoping review

“…Studies in this review demonstrated that cognitive engagement of medical students correlated with knowledge-based achievement. 59,62,73,75 Similar relationships between cognitive engagement and academic achievement have been also established in college students 87 as well as in high school students. 88 On the other hand, the relationships between academic achievement and other dimensions of engagement are fuzzy.…”

“…As shown in Figure 2 (upper panel), most of the articles (94.1%, n = 48) are published in the last 8 years. The lower panel of Figure 2 shows that 47.1% ( n = 24) of the studies are conducted in the United States, 26–49 9.8% ( n = 5) in the United Kingdom, 50–54 9.8% ( n = 5) in Australia, 55–59 4% ( n = 2) in Germany, 60,61 4% ( n = 2) in the Netherlands, 62,63 2% ( n = 1) in Canada, 64 2% ( n = 1) in Norway, 65 2% ( n = 1) in Ireland, 66 5.8% ( n = 3) in China, 67–69 4% ( n = 2) in Turkey, 70,71 2% ( n = 1) in Pakistan, 72 2% ( n = 1) in Malaysia, 73 2% ( n = 1) in Korea, 74 2% ( n = 1) in India 75 and 2% ( n = 1) in Brazil 76 . The methodology in the included studies were quantitative in 66.7% ( n = 34), qualitative in 11.8% ( n = 6) and mixed methods in 21.6% ( n = 11).…”

“…There were large variations in the structure of the self‐reports ranging from one item, 27,28,57,66 three to nine items, 34,45,62,65,69,73 to a full scale of 14–22 items 26,37–39,53,59,74,75 . Table 1 shows 10 self‐reports used for measuring medical student engagement.…”

“…From the selected studies, 43 studies have used one or more than one instrument for measuring student engagement. The most frequently used instrument is the self‐report in 51.0% ( n = 22) of the studies, 26–28,32,34,37–39,43,53,57,59,62–67,69,73–75 although real‐time measures were used in 19.0% ( n = 8), 29,31,33,36,40,46,47,76 multiple methods represented 16.0% ( n = 7), 41,44,45,50,51,56,60 direct observation represented 7.0% ( n = 3) 42,70,71 and interviews used in 7.0% ( n = 3) of the studies 55,58,68 . For the level of measuring student engagement, 42% ( n = 18) studies are measuring at the activity level, 29,32–34,41,42,44,45,56,59,60,62,65,66,70,71,73,76 37% ( n = 16) at the course level 27,31,36–40,46,47,50,51,53,55,57,58,68 and 21% ( n = 9) at the medical school level 26,28,43,63,64,67,69,74,75 …”

“…55,58,68 For the level of measuring student engagement, 42% (n = 18) studies are measuring at the activity level, 29,[32][33][34]41,42,44,45,56,59,60,62,65,66,70,71,73,76 37% (n = 16) at the course level 27,31,[36][37][38][39][40]46,47,50,51,53,55,57,58,68 and 21% (n = 9) at the medical school level. 26,28,43,63,64,67,69,74,75…”