Structural Modeling on the relationship between basic psychological needs and academic self- efficacy with academic engagement in science class

Academic engagement is one of the most important success factors in academic achievement which has been emphasized by the bulk of research findings in the recent decade. Therefore, this study aims to explain the impact of basic psychological needs on the academic engagement of students with academic self-efficacy acting as the mediating factor. The method of research is descriptive-correlational and the data have been analyzed using structural equation modelling. The sample population consists of all the ninth-grade students at Mashhad (Iran) which are a total of 34688 students. However, 700 students were selected by the cluster random sampling technique with proper assignment. In order to collect the necessary data, Deci et al., (2000) basic needs psychological questionnaire (α=0.82), Middleton and Midgley’s (1997) acadmic self-efficacy questionnaire (α=0.81), and Rio and Tseng’s (2011) academic engagement questionnaire (α=0.91) were used. The content and construct validity of the questionnaires were also investigated and confirmed. The results of data analysis indicated that the proposed model is in a good fit with the research data. The direct influence of basic psychological needs on academic self-efficacy and academic engagement was confirmed. Also, the findings indicated the direct impact of self-efficacy on academic engagement. Finally, the indirect effect of basic psychological needs on academic engagement through academic selfefficacy was also confirmed.