The Effect of Identity-based Motivation on Students' Academic Engagement

The present study examined the efficacy of the "Path to Success" educational program, grounded in identity-based motivation theory, in fostering students' academic engagement. Employing a quasi-experimental design, the research incorporated pre-test, post-test, and follow-up assessments, along with a control group for comparison. To achieve this, two ninth-grade classes of female students enrolled in the 2023-2024 academic year in Galehdar (Fars Province) were selected using convenience sampling. These classes were then randomly assigned to either the experimental group (21 students) or the control group (21 students). The experimental group participated in the "Path to Success" intervention, consisting of 11 structured sessions, each lasting 70 minutes, while the control group continued with standard school instruction. Academic engagement levels for both groups were measured at three intervals: before the intervention, immediately after, and six weeks post-intervention. Results from multivariate covariance analysis demonstrated a significant increase in behavioral, agentic, cognitive, and emotional academic engagement among the experimental group. This improvement persisted through the follow-up stage for all dimensions, except for the emotional aspect. These findings suggest that identity-based motivation training is a promising approach for enhancing students' academic engagement.