Self-efficacy, attitude, student engagement: emphasising the role of affective learning attributes among engineering students

The aim of the study is to investigate the relationships between the affective learning attributes and academic achievement among engineering students. The affective learning attributes of interest were self-efficacy, attitude towards engineering, and student's engagement. A survey was conducted on first year students from the engineering diploma programme in a Malaysia technical university. The survey was administrated to 382 voluntarily participating students (n = 382). The affective learning attributes were assessed using existing instruments namely the Self-efficacy and Study Skills Questionnaire (SESS) for measuring self-efficacy, the Pittsburgh Freshman Engineering Attitudes Scale (PFEAS) for measuring attitude towards engineering, and Student Engagement Instrument (SEI) for measuring student's engagement. Academic achievement was assessed using the mid-term examination marks. To determine the associations among study variables correlational research design was used. The results showed a statistically significant positive correlation among the selected psychological variables and academic achievement scores under study. Attitude towards engineering and student engagement seems to be an important factor in predicting academic achievement among engineering students.