Prediction of students' Academic Engagement based on Dimensions of Perceptions of Classroom Environment

Academic engagement is an important process in predicting students’ educational outcomes. In addition, it is one of the most significant indicators of education quality and academic achievement. It is highly important to explore key, environmental factors which highly influence students’ academic engagement. The present study aimed to predict students’ academic engagement based on their perceptions of the classroom environment. The research design was descriptive and correlational. The statistical population included all female secondary school students (n = 4151) in Kashan during the 1396-97 academic year. Based on the Krejcie and Morgan table, 399 students were selected by multi-stage sampling method and filled in Fredericks, Blumenfeld and Paris Student Engagement in School Scale (2004) as well as Gentry, Gable, and Rizza My Class Activity Scale (2002). Pearson product moment correlation and regression analysis (enter model) were used to analyze the data. The results showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between perceptions of classroom environment and academic engagement. Moreover, challenge (β=.43), interest (β=.33), and enjoyment (β=.20) components had the highest ability to predict academic engagement among students, respectively. In conclusion, students' academic engagement could be enhanced through improving classroom environment by designing and implementing challenging and enjoyable class activities and increasing students’ interest.