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Updated: Aug 23, 2025

Assessing the Multiple Dimensions of Engagement to Characterize Learning: A Neurophysiological Perspective
Published on: July 1, 2015
How proactive personality promotes online learning performance? Mediating role of multidimensional learning
Huanyou Chai1, Tianhui Hu2, Gengfeng Niu3
1Research Center of Distance Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
Abstract:
Research on online learning effectiveness has experienced a shift towards focusing on learner characteristics or differences. However, little attention has been paid to learners' personality traits, especially those that highly match with the environmental characteristics of online learning. Guided by recent active learning approach and Model of student differences for learning in online education, this study adopts proactive personality (a dispositional tendency to be active, goal-oriented, and not constrained by environmental forces) as a key predictor and examines whether its relationship with online learning performance is mediated by learning engagement as a multidimensional construct. Using a multi-method approach (including self-reports, log file analysis, and content analysis), this study collected both subjective and objective measures of learning engagement from a total of n = 322 undergraduates. Results showed that proactive personality was positively associated with online learning performance. In addition, this association was mediated by all subjective and certain objective measures of learning engagement. Findings contribute to understanding the impact of proactive personality on online learning performance and the interplay of learners' individual factors and learning engagement factors in online learning environments. This study recommends promoting learning engagement to realize learners' online success, especially for those with low levels of proactive personality.
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E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...