Travel Days and Study Nights: A Cross-Sectional Tripartite Analysis Toward Tertiary PE: An ABC Model Approach to Students’ Engagement

Abstract

This research study examined the relationship between the perceived affective, behavioural, and cognitive attitudes of university students towards Physical Education and participation in tertiary Physical Education. The development of the present study was anchored in the ABC Tripartite Attitude Model and multidimensional engagement theory with a quantitative descriptive-correlational study design. Data were gathered from 352 first-year undergraduate students enrolled in Physical Education classes in five universities using a structured self-report questionnaire. The affective, behavioral, and cognitive dispositions were assessed, as was multidimensional student engagement, using the instrument. Descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlation, and multiple regression analyses were performed. Findings indicated a strong positive correlation between the total ABC dispositions and student engagement (r =.694, p <.001). All three attitude elements were found to have a significant relationship with engagement, of which affective disposition was found to have the widest standardised regression coefficient (b = .41, p < .001), followed by cognitive (b = .29, p < .01) and behavioral dispositions (b = .21, p < .05). These findings implicate the central role of the emotional experiences in understanding engagement outcomes and concur with the applicability of ABC Tripartite Attitude Model in tertiary Physical Education contexts in order to inform curriculum design, pedagogy, and institutional supports strategies in universities, and policy planning for student engagement improvement initiatives in universities globally.