Academic Engagement and Perceived Academic Success Among Senior High School Students: The Mediating Role of Self-Regulated Learning (Published)
Academic engagement and self-regulated learning (SRL) are important factors associated with students’ academic experiences and perceived academic success. This study examined the relationship between academic engagement and perceived academic success and investigated the mediating role of self-regulated learning among senior high school students in the Mfantsiman Municipality of Ghana. A quantitative descriptive-correlational design was employed. The study involved 322 second-year students selected from four public senior high schools through stratified and simple random sampling procedures. Data were collected using questionnaires measuring behavioural, emotional, and cognitive academic engagement, self-regulated learning, and perceived academic success. The data were analysed using Pearson product-moment correlation and Hayes’ PROCESS Model 4 with 5,000 bootstrap samples.The findings showed a significant positive relationship between academic engagement and perceived academic success, r = .564, p < .001. The three dimensions of academic engagement were also positively and significantly related to perceived academic success, with behavioural engagement (r = .388), cognitive engagement (r = .445), and emotional engagement (r = .471), all p < .001. Furthermore, academic engagement significantly predicted self-regulated learning, B = .6126, p < .001, explaining 28.13% of the variance in self-regulated learning. Self-regulated learning also significantly predicted perceived academic success, B = .2537, p < .001. The indirect effect of academic engagement on perceived academic success through self-regulated learning was significant, B = .1554, 95% CI (.0964, .2208). Since the direct effect of academic engagement on perceived academic success remained significant, the findings indicated partial mediation. The study concludes that higher academic engagement is associated with greater perceived academic success and that self-regulated learning provides an important pathway through which academic engagement is related to students perceived academic success. The findings highlight the need for educational practices that strengthen both students’ engagement and self-regulated learning skills.
Keywords: Self-Regulated Learning, academic engagement, perceived academic success