ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1604792
The Mediating Role of Learning Engagement in the Relationship between Master's Students' Learning Motivation and Scientific Research and Innovation Capability Author information
Provisionally accepted
- Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China
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The participation of master's students in scientific research is a highly impactful educational activity. This study investigated the relationships among master's students' learning motivation, learning engagement, and capability of scientific research and innovation (SRAIC). A total of 3,004 master's students from eight regional universities were surveyed. Results revealed that the level of SRAIC was relatively low at regional universities and it varied by grade, gender, and family background. Both intrinsic and extrinsic learning motivations positively predicted the SRAIC, with intrinsic motivation having a more pronounced direct effect and extrinsic motivation exhibiting a stronger indirect effect through learning engagement. Moreover, different types of learning engagement exhibit heterogeneous impact mechanisms between master's students' learning motivation and SRAIC. The findings suggest that universities should enhance students' intrinsic motivation, transform extrinsic motivation, and create a conducive learning environment to increase learning engagement, thereby promoting the development of the SRAIC in master's students. This study's sample originates from local universities in Fujian Province, China. Due to systemic heterogeneity in Chinese higher education institutions and variations in student competencies across China, findings specifically apply to Chinese regional universities. They may not be generalized to international or elite universities.
Keywords: master's students, Learning motivation, Scientific research and innovation capability, Learning engagement, Mediating effect
Received: 02 Apr 2025; Accepted: 23 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tang, He and Hu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Dongmei Tang, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China
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