Wuhan College Students' Self-Directed Learning and Academic Performance: Chain-Mediating Roles of Optimism and Mental Health.

Jun Li,Ziao Hu,Dong Yang

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.757496

Jun Li, Ziao Hu + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.757496

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Abstract

This study explored the chain-mediating roles of optimism and mental health in the relation of self-directed learning with academic performance among college students in Wuhan during long-term online teaching. In total, 473 valid responses were obtained from students at three Wuhan universities. Self-directed learning, optimism, mental health, and academic performance scales were used as measurement instruments; a 5-point Likert scale was employed for all items. To examine the instruments’ reliability and validity, a measurement model was constructed; moreover, structural models were employed for assessing the chain mediation model. This study confirmed that self-directed learning was a positive predictor of academic performance in Wuhan college students. Optimism and mental health were two mediators and partially jointly mediated the relation of self-directed learning with academic performance. The results revealed that self-directed learning only partially positively predicted academic performance. The aforementioned relationship was partially mediated by optimism and mental health, highlighting the essential roles of optimism and mental health in the learning and learning outcomes of Wuhan college students.

Highlights

As a global public health emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an increase in university Students’ perception of stress (Husky et al, 2020)
This study found that, during online teaching, self-directed learning serves as a significant positive predictor of the academic performance of college students, but it cannot completely explain the academic performance of these students
The relation of selfdirected learning with academic performance can be partially chain-mediated through optimism and mental health

Summary

Introduction

As a global public health emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an increase in university Students’ perception of stress (Husky et al, 2020). Facing the double pressure of the sudden pandemic and online learning, college students may have become more susceptible to anxiety and pressure (Goldmann and Galea, 2013; Byrnes et al, 2020; Safa et al, 2021). In February 2020, at the beginning of the epidemic that originated in Wuhan, China’s Ministry of Education issued “Instructions for Adequate Implementation of Online Education Organization and Management in Ordinary Colleges and Universities during Pandemic Prevention and Control,” requesting joint implementation and protection of online teaching to achieve class suspension without interrupting learning (Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, 2020). Wuhan college students have experience in online education for a relatively extended period, and their self-directed learning. Wuhan college students were selected as the research targets

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