Structural model of predicting academic engagement based on cognitive ability and socioeconomic status by mediating academic enthusiasm in students

 Academic engagement is one of the effective variables in the field of education and learning, which is affected by various factors, but to what extent can cognitive ability, socioeconomic status and academic enthusiasm?  

The present study was carried out to investigate the structural pattern of predicting academic engagement based on cognitive ability and socioeconomic status by mediating academic enthusiasm in high school students in the city of Rumshkan in 2017-2018.

The research method was descriptive-correlational of structural equation modeling type. The statistical population of the study consisted of all secondary school female students in the city of Rumshkan who were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling method (317 people). The used instruments included Reeve's (2013) academic engagement scale, Nejati's (2013) cognitive ability questionnaire, Fredericks et al (2004) academic enthusiasm inventory, and researcher-made socio-economic and demographic information questionnaire. The data were analyzed by  structural equation modeling.

The results showed significant direct effects of cognitive ability, socioeconomic status, and academic enthusiasm on academic engagement as well as  significant  direct effects of cognitive ability and socioeconomic status on academic enthusiasm. Also,  cognitive ability and socioeconomic status had significant indirect effects on academic engagement by mediating academic enthusiasm. Also, results showed that the designed model by using the present study sample had appropriate model fit.

Therefore, the mentioned structural pattern can predict the extent of students' academic engagement with regard to the variables of cognitive ability, socioeconomic status, and academic enthusiasm.