Mediating role of students' approaches to learning in the relationship between grit and burnout amongst first-year university students in Singapore

Background/context. Many first-year university students often lack the skills to identify appropriate learning strategies, and this may lead to increased burnout (Salmela-Aro et al., 2009). Although grit has been found to act as a protective factor against burnout, however, the effect of students’ approaches to learning (SAL) in explaining or mediating the relation between grit and burnout, is still unexamined among higher education students. Grit (broadly defined as the passion and perseverance in striving for long term goals; Duckworth, 2016), burnout, and SAL are important factors for succeeding in university education.

The initiative/practice. This study examined if SAL acts as an intervening factor (mediator) between grit and burnout in a sample of 261 first-year students across various disciplines (e.g., Engineering, Health and Social Sciences, Infocomm Technology) at a Singapore-based university.

Methods of evaluative data collection and analysis. Data was collected via self-report questionnaires at two-time points, beginning (grit and SAL) and end (burnout) of the first year. A mediation model employing Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was performed, with SAL as a mediator between grit and burnout.

Evidence of outcomes and effectiveness. The results revealed that unreflective approach mediated the relation between passion (i.e., grit) and cynicism (i.e., burnout), implying that adopting lower unreflective approaches explained why more passionate first-year students experienced lower cynicism. To reduce burnout, it is therefore important for educators to find practical ways to instil the passion in learning (e.g., cultivating gritty classroom culture, cultivating traits related to grit), in addition to reducing the focus on unreflective approaches to learning (e.g., fostering ability to monitor learning, relating learning to prior knowledge). Our study advances the understanding of how grit, SAL, and burnout are related, and potentially aids professionals at higher education intervene in the learning processes of first-year students.