Academic Engagement in Iranian Highschool Students: A Qualitative Study

In this research it has been attempted to study the academic engagement and academic engagement attitude conceptualization from the perspective of high school students using qualitative method. Participants in this study were 52 students (26 boys and 26 girls) ages 15 to 17، with on average of 16.40. Two focus groups were formed for boys and two focus groups were constituted for female students. They were then interviewed. Their responses regarding their perception of academic engagement were classified into eight categories as follows: »aquire high scores and high average» ,«practice, repetition and timing,« »strong volition and self regulation» ,«design objective and schematization» ,«interest to task, text book and school» ,«enjoy reading, and learning» ,«attention, and concentration on the task ,«and »learning tactics, and methods«. The results of open and axial coding showed that academic engagement in this period of life of Iranian students contains five categories, cognitive engagement, behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, motivational engagement and agency.