Student engagement matters: A self-determination perspective on Chinese MSW students’ perceived competence after practice learning

Abstract

From the perspective of self-determination theory, achievement motivation partially mediates and explains the relationship between perceived autonomy support and student engagement, and student engagement has full mediating role in the relationships between perceived autonomy support, motivation and learning outcomes. This study investigates the relationship between Master of Social Work (MSW) students' learning processes and their perceived social work competence. A cross-sectional study using an online survey was conducted; 848 students in fifty-seven of the sixty-one MSW programmes running in mainland China in 2015 (51.3 and 93.4 per cent of the total figures, respectively) participated. Data analysis was based on theoretically employed structural equation modelling. Fit indexes of the measurement model showed adequate model fit (CFI = 0.964; RMSEA = 0.048) with four latent variables. The structural model shows MSW students' perceived support for their autonomy and achievement motivation affected their perceived competence, with engagement as a full mediator. The model fit is good (CFI = 0.939, RMSEA = 0.047, R2 = 46 per cent). The findings highlight the importance of increasing students' achievement motivation, providing support for student autonomy and implementing high-quality field-training curricula in enhancing students' engagement with practice learning in behavioural, emotional and agentic dimensions. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers.