Take care of well-being: how facilitators and engagement predict performance of university students

Abstract

The interest in developing a high quality educational system requires constant research of the variables involved in the teaching-learning process. Among these variables, social and academic facilitators are important because there is empirical evidence about their positive relationship with engagement, commitment, selfefficacy, happiness and satisfaction in the academic context. Moreover, the psychological well-being of university students (i.e., engagement) showed to positively affect future academic success. In line, the aim of this study is twofold. First, the relevance of social and university academic facilitators was analyzed depending on the faculty of belonging. Second, the effect of social (e.g., Good relationship with classmates) and academic facilitators (e.g., Updated website with new information and easily accessible) as well as academic engagement on academic performance (i.e., GPA) was tested. The sample consisted of 965 University students. The ANOVAs' results showed the existence of statistically significant differences in social and university academic facilitators among the different faculties. Regression analyses demonstrated that social (but not university's) facilitators and academic engagement were positively related to academic performance. Additionally, the interaction between social facilitators and academic engagement was positively related to academic performance. The effect was also significant when controlling for gender and faculty. The identification of different facilitators allows to develop different activities depending on the faculty, as well as leading to the optimization of teaching-learning process. Moreover, academic facilitators do not affect academic performance. From a practical view, it means that specific interventions can be implemented during the course so that students' social facilitators and engagement increase.

The Study Demands-Resources Framework: An Empirical Introduction

“…Examples of these are social support, role clarity, developmental opportunities, or autonomy [ 20 , 33 , 45 , 47 ]. However, there are also specific resources that have been studied solely in the university context as academic facilitators (e.g., services, availability of scholarships), choice of courses, or institutions for career preparation [ 48 , 49 ]. Furthermore, in line with hypothesis 3, study resources were negatively associated with student burnout.…”

How and when goal-oriented self-regulation improves college students’ well-being: A weekly diary study

“…Both progression towards and attainment of goals may influence well-being (Sheldon and Elliot 1998 ). Previous literature indicated that academic facilitators are positively related to engagement, commitment, satisfaction, and happiness (Martínez et al 2016 ). Similarly, students who made good progress towards their goals at the end of the school term reported enhanced mood compared with the mood at the beginning of the term (Sheldon and Kasser 2016 ).…”

The Role of Psychological Strengths, Coping Strategies and Well-Being in the Prediction of Academic Engagement and Burnout in First-Year University Students

“…Engagement and resilience have also been related (Martínez, Peñalver, & Meneghel, 2016). Given the inherent difficulties and challenges that characterise university life, resilience, defined as the ability to recover and cope with adversity with a more positive perception of problems and difficulties (You, 2016), can be valued as a significant personal strength.…”