Student Engagement in the Context of Post-Covid: A Case of Higher Education Institutions

The impact of covid-19 has called for an urgent need to further understand the relationship between students' motivated behavior and their engagement. This study aimed to investigate the links between adaptive cognition and adaptive behavior and the engagement of college and university students during and after the covid-19 pandemic. The recent study was framed within several relevant theories, namely the self-determination theory, the need achievement theory, and the job demand -resource theoretical model. Structural equation modeling with JASP software version 0.14.1 was employed as a robust method to investigate complex relationships in the proposed research model. Data were collected through an online survey using a structured questionnaire. Respondents comprised 263 students registered at two higher education institutions in Viet Nam. Analysis results yielded the positive and significant influence of adaptive cognition (/3 = 0.224) and adaptive behavior (/3 = 0.489) on student engagement. Furthermore, anxiety predicted student engagement in our theoretical model, and the relationship was positive (/3 = 0.132). We also found a strongly influential relationship between adaptive cognition and adaptive behavior (/3 = 0.783). These findings proposed a critical implication: to promote student engagement in the context of post-covid, management bodies and leaders in higher education institutions should adopt a comprehensive approach in which the provision of psychological conditions is an integral part.