Academic engagement and learning outcomes of the student experience in the research university: Construct validation of the instrument

Abstract

The Student Experience in the Research University is an online survey instrument that serves to assess institutional functions of research universities in the U.S. and understand students’ behaviour, satisfaction, and achievement. The present study explored measurement models describing two primary domains (i.e., Academic Engagement and Self-Reported Learning Abilities), and examined the adequacy of the measurement models. Exploratory factor analysis was initially conducted to identify the number of structural components of each domain, which was followed by confirmatory factor analysis specifying a factorial structure and verifying how well the structural model fits into the collected data. Six and three factors were extracted from the academic engagement and the self-reported learning abilities domains. The structural model verified indicated that the relationships among the academic engagement and self-reported learning abilities domains and covariates such as grade point average, parental income, and education were consistent with the findings from relevant literature. The findings of the current study contribute to the understanding of student engagement in research universities in the U.S. Further, the implications for educational research and practice were discussed.