University students interactions with peers and academic involvement : analysis through structural equation modeling / Interações dos universitarios com os pares e envolvimento academico : analise atraves da modelagem de equações estruturais

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2008

RESUMO

The interactions established between the university students and their peers have influenced the learning and the development. The characteristics of these interactions, though, are modified during the graduation course and their impact on the student s academic background is also distinctive. In addition, the role of the interactions might not occur in a direct way with the main socialization agents including their peers, but might be mediate by academic involvement, that s the quantity and the quality of energy spent by the students in the activities. The present article analyzed the adjustment of the empirical data to the theoretical model on which the academic and social interactions established by the students with their peers influence the freshmen and senior college students academic involvement. 1070 enrolled students who attend classes in a campus of a confessional university located in the Southeast region of Brazil participated in the study. For collecting the data was built two instruments. The psychometric study of both which was executed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the items from the Interaction Scale with the Peers get into four factors: academic interactions involving discussion and help offering; academic interactions involving cooperation and help receipt; social and leisure interactions; and, intimate interactions. The study confirmed the factor structure of the Academic Involvement Scale in two factors: involvement in compulsory and non-compulsory activities. The analysis of the impact of the interactions on the academic involvement was carried through Structural Equation Modeling. The main results suggest that the interactions established between the student and his peers, as well as his academic involvement, differ from freshmen and seniors what reflects characteristics from experienced transitions and social network. Moreover, it was confirmed the adjustment of the data to the theoretical model in which the interactions influence the academic involvement for both freshmen and senior students, sustaining what is mentioned at the literature. The academic interactions involving discussion and help offering contribute to the involvement of both groups of students. However, the magnitude of the relationship is stronger for the student at the end of course (? = 1,82, p<0,01; ? = 1,55, p<0,01) than for the ones at the beginning of the course (? = 1,35, p<0,01; ? = 1,40, p<0,01) regarding the engagement in compulsory and non compulsory activities. On the other hand, the academic interactions involving cooperation and help receipt have an adverse impact on the engagement in compulsory activities for freshmen (? = -0,74, p<0,01) and seniors (? = -0,41, p<0,05). The negative impact also is kept on the involvement in non-compulsory activities, having again a more adverse influence on the freshmen (? = -0,64, p<0,05) than the senior students (? = -0,47, p<0,05). For the freshmen the intimate interactions had a negative role, statistically relevant only on their participation in non-compulsory activities (? = -1,06, p<0,01). For the senior the negative impacts were noticed on the compulsory (? = -1,14, p<0,01) and non-compulsory activities (? = - 1,03, p<0,01). The characteristic interactions of social contact influenced positively the involvement in non-compulsory activities for both of them, but the students at the beginning of the course suffered a major impact (? = 1,01, p<0,01) comparing to the seniors (? = 0,59, p<0,01). It is believed that the variables connected to social support, as well as the changes in the motivational component might help in explaining that relationship. Thus, the results suggest that the interactive dimension on the involvement presents particularities between freshmen and seniors, especially in terms of the relationship magnitude and restate the interactions impact between the peers during the academic education process.

ASSUNTO(S)

ensino superior psicologia educacional multivariate analysis relações interpessoais analise multivariada interpersonal relationships educational psychology higher education estudantes universitarios college students

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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