The Relationship between Instructors' Professional Competencies and University Students' School Engagement

This study was conducted to explore the relationship between university students' school engagement and instructors' professional competencies. The study group consisted of 314 students from the Faculty of Art at Cankiri Karatekin University. The participants filled in the Scale for Professional Competence of Instructor (SPCI) and the Scale for School Engagement (SSE). The data were analyzed using descriptive methods, explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA/CFA), ANOVA, the Pearson correlation coefficient, and multivariate regression. Findings showed that according to the opinions of the participants, both the instructors' professional competencies and the students' school engagement were at moderate levels. They also revealed that students' views regarding instructors' professional competencies did not differ in terms of gender and grade, but there was a significant difference in terms of department. Additionally, the study demonstrated a significant correlation between instructors' professional competencies and school engagement. However, regression results indicated that sub-scales of the SPCI were not significant predictors of school engagement.