School support: Unmasking the mediating role of teachers, peers, and school administrators support towards the promotion of student engagement

Abstract

The relationship of quality education and student engagement has long been in discussion. Researches have proven the persistent effects of student engagement in higher education participation and completion rate. In Taiwan, the research within the concept of student engagement is also important. Previous research using the Taiwan Survey of Student Engagement (TSSE) on students of Chinese academies called Shuyuan have proven the mediating effects of student-faculty interaction between the student engagement factors and students’ educational outcome gains. With the concept of support deemed as also a key factor in student-faculty interaction, the current study focuses on proving this hypothesis. Participants of the study are 2,451 undergraduate students enrolled in four residential colleges in Taiwan. Students are from the National Tsing Hua University, Tung Hai University, National Chung Cheng University, and National ChengChi University are surveyed. Structural equation modelling was used to compute for the mediational effects. Results show that teachers, peers, and administrators supports are all crucial in mediating the effects of student engagement. Although statistical analysis shows that school support only partially mediate the educational outcome gains, the current study proves that quality school interaction should not only be limited to faculty towards students. More important, quality positive interactions should be encouraged among students and school administrators.