Browsing by Author "Nurttila, Suvi"

Aims. There are two main frameworks to approach disengagement in studying: educational psychology and occupational psychology. Both frameworks have gathered analogous results on the problems in studying and their risks for low success, drop out and ill-being. However, there is no research on the hypothesis that these frameworks investigate same phenomena with different concepts. Thus, the main aim of this study was to construct a measurement model by combining two inventories: firstly, MED NORD (Medical Education in Nordic countries) from educational psychology framework measuring lack of interest and lack of regulation, and secondly, SBI (School Burnout Inventory) from occupational psychology framework measuring exhaustion, cynicism and inadequacy. Hypothesis was that a three-dimensional Study Problem Model (SPM) could be constructed, consisting of Lack of relevance combining MED NORD lack of interest and SBI cynicism, Lack of energy including SBI exhaustion and Lack of efficacy combining MED NORD lack of regulation and SBI inadequacy. To further validate the model, its' relations to academic success were investigated. Method. The participants (n=1254) were higher education students from Helsinki area (mean age 23.78, 65.1 % female, 94.4 % first or second year students). The data were collected by questionnaire as a part of Mind the Gap research project, and achievement data (ECTS and GPA per year) for 1064 of the participants were gathered from the universities' archives. To find the latent structure of problems in studying and to cross- validate the results, EFA and CFA were used on two different randomly divided subsamples (for both, n=627), and based on these results the SPM was constructed. After this SEM was used on the whole data to look at the relationships between the SPM and academic achievement. Results and conclusions. The results suggested that a three-factor model would fit the data best, and the three dimensions of SPM emerged as follows: 1) Lack of relevance as hypothesized, 2) Lack of energy as hypothesized and 3) Lack of regulation consisting of MED NORD lack of regulation. The SBI inadequacy items were leaved out of the model as they didn't load coherently on any of the dimensions. SEM results showed, as hypothesized, both Lack of relevance and Lack of regulation to be related lower achievement, whereas lack of energy was related to higher achievement. The strongest association was between Lack of relevance and ECTS. Altogether, the relations of SPM were stronger for ECTS than GPA. SPM supports both frameworks' views on study disengagement/burnout, capturing the experiences of meaninglessness, exhaustion and lack of adequate studying skills. The different consequences of the SPM dimensions on achievement reflect their compositions: Lack of relevance being related the strongest to slower proceeding of studies, Lack of regulation being related the strongest to poor grades and Lack of energy being, rather interestingly, related to higher achievement. In future research, especially the last-mentioned should be looked at more precisely, as the association could be caused by for example reverse causality or the fact that lack of energy indicates commitment rather than disengagement. The results could be utilized for designing ways to promote efficient studying and student well-being.