Academic self-concept mediates the effect of online learning engagement on deep learning in online courses for Chinese nursing students: A cross-sectional study

Self-efficacy mediates the effect of professional identity on learning engagement for nursing students in higher vocational colleges: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Learning engagement is a crucial predictor of academic achievement. It is essential to understand the factors influencing learning engagement among nursing students, especially from the learner's perspective, which is notably scarce but vital for designing effective educational interventions.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to investigate the mediating effect of self-efficacy on the relationship between professional identity and learning engagement for nursing students in higher vocational colleges.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional electronic survey was conducted.

SETTING

The study was conducted in four higher vocational colleges located in Guangdong Province, China.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 944 first- and second-year nursing students participated in the study between October and November 2022.

METHODS

Data were collected with questionnaires on general information, professional identity, self-efficacy, and learning engagement and analyzed with SPSS 26.0 and PROCESS v4.1 (Model 4), exploring relationships among professional identity, self-efficacy, and learning engagement through Pearson correlations, multivariate regression, and mediation analysis with 5000 bootstrap samples.

RESULTS

The participants exhibited moderate levels of professional identity (85.37 ± 13.52), self-efficacy (25.58 ± 5.74), and learning engagement (71.26 ± 16.17), which were all significantly correlated with each other (P < 0.01). In the model of the mediating effect, professional identity directly (β = 0.811, t = 27.484, P < 0.001) and indirectly [β = 0.112,95%CI (0.074-0.154)] significantly predicts college students' learning engagement; professional identity has a significant positive predictive effect on self-efficacy (β = 0.182, t = 14.459, P < 0.001) and self-efficacy significantly predicts learning engagement (β = 0.614, t = 8.292, P < 0.001). Furthermore, the direct effect of professional identity on learning engagement (0.699) and its mediating effect (0.112) account for 86.19 % and 13.81 % of the total effect (0.811), respectively.

CONCLUSION

Participants exhibited moderate levels of professional identity, self-efficacy, and learning engagement. Professional identity and self-efficacy are interconnected and positively correlated, influencing learning engagement among nursing students, which highlights the need to foster these qualities to enhance education and future practice.

The impact of self-directed learning experience and course experience on learning satisfaction of university students in blended learning environments: the mediating role of deep and surface learning approach

Introduction

With the rapid development of technology and the evolution of educational ideas, the blended learning model has become the new norm in higher education. Therefore, based on Biggs' learning process theory, this study aims to investigate the relationships between learning experience, learning approaches, and learning satisfaction of university students within the Chinese blended learning context to explore the dynamic process and mechanism of blended learning.

Methods

The Chinese modified versions of the Self-Rating Scale of Self-Directed Learning, the Course Experience Questionnaire, and the Revised Study Process Questionnaire were administered to 939 Chinese university first-grade students (444 men, 495 women). The data were analyzed by using the covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) technique.

Results

The results demonstrated that, among Chinese university students, there were significant correlations between the self-directed learning experience, the course experience, the deep learning approach, the surface learning approach, and learning satisfaction. Additionally, the learning approaches mediated the association between the self-directed learning experience and learning satisfaction and between the course experience and learning satisfaction.

Conclusion

This study provides insight into the facilitative effect of university students' self-directed learning experience and course experience on their learning satisfaction and how this effect is triggered through the mediating role of different learning approaches with the blended learning context. This study shows the learning behaviors and psychology in a blended learning environment, thus revealing the new learning characteristics of university students by integrating the self-learning characteristics of blended learning into the framework of learning process theory. The findings contribute to assisting blended learning providers in delivering targeted interventions to enhance students' learning satisfaction.

Measurement of student engagement in health professions education: a review of literature

Student engagement is a complex multidimensional construct that has attained great interest in health professions education (HPE). Definition and conceptualization of student engagement is an important step that should drive the development of the instruments for its measurement. We have recently proposed a comprehensive framework for student engagement in HPE with a definition of engagement as student investment of time and energy in academic and non-academic experiences that include learning, teaching, research, governance, and community activities. The dimensions of student engagement in this framework included the cognitive, affective, behavioral, agentic, and socio-cultural. Guided by the student engagement framework, this non-systematic review aims to identify, critically appraise, and summarize the existing methods for measuring student engagement in HPE. Extrapolating from higher education literature, we attempted to link the theoretical perspectives of student engagement with the published methods of its measurement in HPE context. In addition, we have described the different methods of measuring student engagement including self-report surveys, real time measures, direct observation, interviews/focus groups, and the use of multiple instruments. The span of engagement dimensions measured by self-report surveys ranges from one to five dimensions. However, measurement of agentic and sociocultural dimensions of engagement in HPE is still limited and further research is required. We have also reflected on the existing methods of measuring engagement of students as active partners in HPE. The review also describes the advantages, limitations, and psychometric properties of each method for measuring student engagement. We ended the review with a guiding conclusion on how to develop and select an instrument for measuring student engagement in HPE. Finally, we addressed the gaps in the literature about measuring engagement of HPE students and future research plans.

Subgroups of self-directed learning ability and their differences in professional identity among nursing undergraduates during the COVID-19 pandemic: a latent profile analysis

BACKGROUND

Promoting self-directed learning (SDL) among nursing undergraduates is crucial to meet the new requirements of the healthcare system and to adapt to online learning contexts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, identifying the classification features of SDL ability and developing targeted interventions are both critical. Professional identity (PI) may contribute to the cultivation of SDL ability, but their relationship remains relatively unknown. This study aimed to explore the subgroups of SDL ability and their differences in PI among nursing undergraduates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

A total of 2438 nursing undergraduates at four universities in China were enrolled in this cross-sectional study from November 2021 to February 2022. The Self-Directed Learning Scale of Nursing Undergraduates (SLSNU) and the Professional Identity Scale for Nursing Students (PISNS) were administered. A latent profile analysis was performed to explore SDL ability latent profiles. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the predictors of profile membership, and a one-way analysis of variance was applied to compare the PI scores in each latent profile.

RESULTS

Three latent profiles were identified and labeled 'low SDL ability' (n = 749, 30.7%), 'low initiative of help-seeking' (n = 1325, 54.4%) and 'high SDL ability' (n = 364, 14.9%). Multinomial logistic regression analysis suggested that nursing undergraduates who voluntarily chose a nursing major, had served as a student cadre, and had participated in clinical practicum were less likely to be included in the "low SDL ability" group. The average PI score was statistically different across the three profiles (F = 884.40, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The SDL ability among nursing undergraduates was divided into three profiles, and results show that promoting PI may effectively foster SDL ability. This study highlights the importance of targeted interventions by considering their distinct SDL ability patterns, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

General Self-Esteem as the Mechanism Through Which Early-Childhood Parental Trust and Support Affect Adolescents' Learning Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model

Parental trust and support are machineries for children's cognitive growth and behaviors exhibited at a later age. Their influence on students' learning engagement at school has been reported, but little is known about the mechanisms through which such a proposed causal effect occurs. This study tested 2 major proposed hypotheses; (1) general self-esteem (GSE) mediates the causal relationship between parents' trust and support (PTS) and Learning engagement (LE). (2) The mediation effect is further moderated by students' college grade level. Data was collected from 1139 college students in Tanzania (M_age = 22.5, SD_age = 0.681) who filled out an online-designed questionnaire. SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science), PROCESS macro of SPSS, and JASP (Jeffrey's Amazing Statistical Program) were used for analyzing data. The results indicated that GSE had a mediating effect (β = .0912, SE = 0.0134, P < .001) on the causal relationship between PTS and LE. The unmediated (direct) effect of PTS on LE (β = .2125, SE = 0.0419, P < .001) was lower than the total effect (β = .3037, SE = 0.0553, P < .001) after the mediation. The interaction effects of PTS (β = .0463, P < .001) and GSE (β = .0495, P < .001) on students' college grades were statistically significant, indicating that the mediation effect of GSE on the causal relationship between PTS and LE was moderated by college grades. Parental trust and support enhance students' behavioral learning at school through their general self-esteem, built from the family level (parenting).

The relationship between Chinese university students' learning preparation and learning achievement within the EFL blended teaching context in COVID-19 post-epidemic era: The mediating effect of learning methods

The effectiveness of the blended teaching model in improving university students' English learning achievement has been frequently reported in China in the post-pandemic era. However, such research has seldom explored the students' entire EFL (English as a foreign language) learning process and mechanism from the perspective of learners within this model. This study therefore used the 3P (presage, process and product) teaching and learning theory to explore the mediating role of learning methods (i.e., learning engagement and academic procrastination) in the relationship between learning preparation (i.e., academic self-concept and course experience) and learning achievement within the Chinese EFL blended teaching context from the perspective of learners. In this study, 942 Chinese university students (male: N = 447; female: N = 495) participated in a survey and completed electronic questionnaires on EFL-related academic self-concept, learning engagement, academic procrastination, and learning achievement. The data were analyzed using AMOS software and a structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. The results showed that both students' academic self-concept and course experience directly and positively predicted their English learning achievement. Moreover, students' academic self-concept of learning achievement was partially mediated by learning engagement and academic procrastination, whereas the effect of course experience on learning achievement was fully mediated by learning engagement and academic procrastination. After discussing these findings, suggestions as well as limitations for future studies will be given.

Relationship among clinical practice environment, creative self-efficacy, achievement motivation, and innovative behavior in nursing students: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Innovation is essential to advance nursing and health care. However, few studies have focused on innovative behavior of nursing students.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to explore the mediating effects of creative self-efficacy and achievement motivation on the relationship between clinical practice environment and innovative behavior in Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students.

DESIGN

A descriptive cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire.

SETTING

Participants were recruited online from five practice hospitals in Henan Province, China.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 588 BSN students enrolled in the study.

METHODS

The participants completed the innovative behavior questionnaire, the clinical practice environment scale, the achievement motivation scale, and the creative self-efficacy scale online in 2022. SPSS PROCESS macro was used for data analysis. The reporting followed the STROBE checklist.

RESULTS

A total of 499 valid questionnaires were collected. A positive clinical practice environment was associated with more innovative behavior, and this relation was partially mediated by creative self-efficacy and motive to avoid failure.

CONCLUSION

Our study complements the evidence on the mechanism of action between the clinical practice environment and innovative behavior. Our findings have important implications for nursing educators to develop education strategies to inspire nursing students to pursue innovations in school and clinical settings.