Verification of internal variables affecting Korean community college students'academic achievement

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of Korean community college students' self-efficacy, intrinsic value, and flow on academic achievement through a structural model in order to verify the relationships among the internal variables that affect academic achievement. Data surveyed from 352 students at a large community college in South Korea were used to investigate the integrated relationships between these three internal variables and academic achievement. The results showed that both self-efficacy and intrinsic value directly affected flow. The effect size of self-efficacy was stronger than that of intrinsic value. Secondly, both self-efficacy and intrinsic value did not exert any direct effect on academic achievement. Finally, flow had a mediator effect on the relationship between intrinsic value and academic achievement. The main findings from this study suggest that all of the three internal variables, selfefficacy, intrinsic value and flow, should be synthetically considered to design effective instructional strategies for improving academic achievement of community college students. © Korean Educational Development Institute 2011.