Validating the University Student Engagement Model through Structural Equation Modeling

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to investigate whether emotional, cognitive and behavioral engagements, represents three conceptually and empirically distinct psychological constructs when studied within the same domain. This paper reports part of the findings from a major study entitled “Predictors of Self-Handicapping Behavior among Muslim Students”. Testing for factorial equivalence of scores from a measuring instrument was carried-out through structural equation modeling by using AMOS version 16. Results of Confirmatory Factor Analysis of responses from 790 undergraduates prove that the SEM three factor model of University Student Engagement (USE) is empirically fit and reliable, which also supports the argument that emotion, behavior and cognition are the student engagement manifestations of an interrelated constellation of academic student engagement.