Academic Resilience, Academic Motivation and Academic Engagement among Senior High School Students

Abstract

The study examined academic resilience, academic motivation and student engagement among Senior High Schools in the Sekyere Central District in the Ashanti region of Ghana. The study was guided by three objectives, which were converted into three research hypotheses. The study employed a pragmatic philosophical stance, which helped in understanding the reality of the study and was directed towards a quantitative approach. The descriptive survey design was employed in the conduct of the study. The study targeted all public senior high school students in the Sekyere Central District, with a total number of 4,579. Through a multi-stage sampling procedure, questionnaires were administered to 306 senior high school students. Two hundred and seventy-nine (279) of the questionnaires were, however, filled out and returned, resulting in a 93% response rate. Hence, all the analyses were based on 279 respondents. The various scales on the questionnaire were standardised scales adapted from authors in the area of curriculum implementation. Data on the three research questions was analysed using mean and standard deviation. Hypotheses one and two were tested using multivariate linear regression. Hypothesis three was tested using mediation analysis with Hayes PROCESS. The results of the study revealed that 46.8% of the students showed high academic resilience. The study further found that 48.7% of the students had high academic motivation, a 41.8% of the students had a moderate level of academic motivation. The study again revealed that 48.7% of the students showed high and moderate academic engagement. School authorities should reward students with academic excellence. This will serve as a motivation for students who are not engaged in their academics.