Predicting Academic Achievement in Virtual Education Based on Academic Meaning and Achievement Goals among University Students

Abstract

This study aimed to predict academic achievement in virtual education based on academic meaning and achievement goals among university students. This applied study employed a quantitative, descriptive-correlational design. The statistical population consisted of 3,187 students enrolled in virtual education at the Electronic Branch of Islamic Azad University during the 2024–2025 academic year. The final sample comprised 300 students selected through non-random convenience sampling. Data were collected using the Henderson-King and Smith Meaning of Education Questionnaire and the Midgley et al. Achievement Goals Questionnaire, while students’ grade point average was used as the indicator of academic achievement. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regression in SPSS version 26. The normality assumption was supported for the study variables, and the Durbin–Watson statistic indicated an acceptable independence of regression residuals. Pearson correlation analysis indicated that all dimensions of academic meaning, including career, independence, future, learning, self, next step, social, surrounding world, psychological pressure, and liberation, were positively and significantly associated with academic achievement in virtual education (p<0.01). Mastery, performance, and avoidance achievement goals were also positively and significantly correlated with academic achievement (p<0.01). Regression analysis demonstrated that academic meaning was a significant positive predictor of academic achievement (β=0.318, t=4.931, p<0.001). Achievement goals also made a significant positive contribution to the prediction of academic achievement after their inclusion in the regression model (β=0.180, t=2.821, p=0.005). Comparison of the standardized regression coefficients indicated that academic meaning had greater predictive power than achievement goals in explaining students’ academic achievement in virtual education. The findings suggest that students’ perceptions of the meaning, value, and purpose of their education, together with their achievement-goal orientations, constitute important psychological factors associated with successful academic performance in virtual learning environments. Strengthening academic meaning and constructive achievement-goal orientations may therefore provide an effective basis for educational and counseling interventions designed to enhance students’ academic performance in virtual education.